Another spin trial awaits South Africa in second Test

COLOMBO: Soon, Sri Lankans might be making jokes about how the captain, the coach and the manager should be banned more often.

Dinesh Chandimal, Chandika Hathurusingha and Asanka Gurusinha will miss four of the five ODIs against South Africa, after the ICC meted out its most severe punishment earlier this week since the demerit points system was introduced, but that is not a concern for the next five days.

The trio is also out of this second Test but, even sans their engine room, Sri Lanka had trounced South Africa so soundly in Galle that they can confidently say they don’t need the big three back just yet. Rather, it’s the other three Sri Lanka will rely on three spinners. Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan made South Africa look like amateurs on a surface that was challenging but nowhere near a minefield, and they will look to do it again in Colombo. It’s difficult to imagine South Africa’s batting line-up doing worse, but stranger things have happened.

For a start, South Africa have to decide on their approach against spin. Are they going to attack, with the mentality that they have to get runs before the ball gets them - something Ottis Gibson said was a tactic on seamer-friendly pitches - or are they going to show patience, bat time and trust that runs will follow? The latter sounds more sensible, the former more desperate, and desperate is what South Africa are.

In 2014, South Africa reached the SSC 1-0 up in the series and were dogged in their determination not to lose the advantage. What followed was a blockathon that made the rain breaks more entertaining than play. Four years on, Sri Lanka are 1-0 up at the SSC and will want to turn the screws. South Africa will be happy to draw the series, but whether they are capable of that is the real question. While Dimuth Karunaratne scored more than the entire South Africa team in the first Test, he also made more runs than any of his team-mates, which puts the onus on Angelo Mathews, among others, to step up.

In absence of Dinesh Chandimal, Mathews is the senior-most batsman in the line-up and will want to show that. He was their second-highest run-scorer, behind Chandimal, when they visited India last year, before missing two of the three Test in the West Indies for personal reasons. He has not got past the 30s in his last five innings, numbers that simply won’t do for the man who should be leading with the bat.

On his first tour of the subcontinent, Aiden Markram already showed improvement from one innings to the next in the first Test and will want to leave his mark on the series in Colombo. Markram faced 46 balls in the second innings, six times more than what he faced in the first, and, though he was stumped trying to charge the spinner, he showed a little more patience and a little more finesse the second time. Batting coach Dale Benkenstein expects Markram’s ability to adjust quickly to bring more rewards in the second Test.

Squads: South Africa: (probables): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander/Theunis de Bruyn, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Sri Lanka: (probables): Dimuth Karunaratne, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal (capt), Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan.