Sri Lanka vs South Africa: 3rd T20I, September 14, 2021
VS
September 14, 2021 4:30 pm
Match Predictions and Betting Odds
After losing the ODI series 1-2, South Africa bounced back strongly in the first T20I and beat Sri Lanka quite comfortably (by 28 runs). South Africa racked up 163/5 after they opted to bat first on a slowish track before restricting Sri Lanka to just 135/6.
The return of Quinton de Kock and David Miller bolstered the batting line-up and that made quite a bit of difference. Both the senior cricketers got substantial scores and played a significant part in helping South Africa get to an above par total. In fact, four out of the top five batters in the South African batting line-up got a score in excess of 25. The bowling combined to put up a solid show. None of the bowlers really took wickets in clusters but most of them bowled economical spells and kept things really tight. Moreover, Keshav Maharaj continued to lead the team in the first T20I and he started off his T20I career and T20I captaincy tenure in style.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka’s fragility with the bat continued in the shortest format. They huffed and puffed their way to smallish totals against India as well a couple of months ago and that hasn’t really changed in this series either. The bowling was decent in the first game and it was once again Wanindu Hasaranga who was the star with the ball. Hence, Sri Lanka really need to step up and deliver. Their record in T20Is this year hasn’t been great either. They have won a mere three games and have lost as many 11 in 2021 in the shortest format. Hence, with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup coming around, Sri Lanka will be desperate to turn things around.
The head-to-head record in T20Is between Sri Lanka and South Africa is in the favour of the Proteas. South Africa have won nine matches while Sri Lanka have won just five out of the 14 games. Be it in Sri Lanka or South Africa, the latter are ahead. In both countries (South Africa and Sri Lanka), South Africa have a win-loss record of 2-4. As far as neutral venues are concerned, the record stands at 1-1.
| PLACE | Total Number of Games | Number of games won by Sri Lanka | Number of games won by South Africa | No-Result |
| In Sri Lanka | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| In South Africa | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| In Neutral venues | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| OVERALL | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
Thus, be in terms of current form or head-to-head record, South Africa are ahead. Sri Lanka just haven’t been able to get their act together in the shortest format. Hence, it is no secret that the Proteas will start this game as favourites. They have the winning odds placed at 1.61 for this game. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are quite behind and have their odds placed at 2.30 to win this game.
