Focus on AB de Villiers in series decider

All eyes will be on AB de Villiers, who is set to return to international cricket after a hiatus of seven months, when South Africa and Sri Lanka lock horns in the third and final Twenty20 International at Newlands, Cape Town on Wednesday (January 25).

The presence of de Villiers will be a big boost to the inexperienced South African batting order, which was found wanting in Johannesburg on a wicket that surprisingly offered help to the spinners. South Africa's weakness against slow bowling was evident as debutant chinaman Lakshan Sandakan helped himself to a four-wicket haul to bowl the hosts out for a paltry 113. Barring Heino Kuhn and Farhaan Behardien, the shot-selection of most of the South African batsmen was questionable as they tried to sweep and reverse-sweep their way out of trouble, only to dig a deeper hole for themselves.

With de Villiers returning to the set-up after his rehabilitation from an elbow surgery, and fresh off a 103-ball 134 for Northerns in a List-A game against Easterns, South Africa will be a lot more confident going into the third T20I after being taken by surprise by a sprightly Sri Lankan attack, which ensured a series decider in Cape Town.

On the other hand, Proteas will be pleased with their bowling performance so far in the series. While the likes of Wayne Parnell, Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso have all done a decent job with the ball, the stand-out performer has been the 20-year-old pacer Lungisani Ngidi, who followed up a match-winning 2-12 with a remarkable 4-19 in the second game that helped South Africa stage a fightback. While he has already been rewarded for his efforts with a maiden call-up to the ODI squad, Ngidi will be eager to use the third T20I as a platform to further prove his credentials.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka finally managed to register a win on their South African sojourn after suffering four losses in a row across the Test and T20 formats. However, their victory came at an high cost. Skipper Angelo Mathews, who despite a hamstring injury managed to hit an unbeaten 54 to seen his side over the line in a nervy finish, has been ruled out of the remainder of the series and will be flying back home. This comes as a huge setback for the visitors, especially in terms of their batting, considering that they made a meal out of a relatively simple chase at Wanderers.

The likes of Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis and Thikshila de Silva appeared to be in a hurry and nearly undid all the hard work of their bowlers. Even the experienced Dinesh Chandimal lost his patience, and if not for Mathews's cool head, Sri Lanka would have endured another disappointment. There will be an added responsibility for Chandimal now that Mathews will no longer be available for the rest of the series. Sri Lanka will also hope that the rest of the batsmen can display better application and will also bank on Niroshan Dickwella, who has looked in good touch at the top of the order, to give them another fiery start.

It was a welcome change to see the Sri Lankan bowlers dominate the proceedings and have the Proteas batsmen dance to their tunes. Apart from Sandakan, Isuru Udana and Nuwan Kulasekara also shined with the ball, bowling the right lines and using the change of pace to good effect. Although they are unlikely to be presented with a slow pitch again, another disciplined exhibition of bowling is what the visitors will be expecting from them in their bid to clinch the series.

When: South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I - 6:00 PM Local (9:30 PM IST)

Where: Newlands Stadium, Cape Town

What to expect: The pitch is likely to offer some pace and bounce, unlike the nature of the wicket in the recently-concluded T20I in Johannesburg. Clear skies expected, with a high of 22 degree Celsius.

Team News:

South Africa: While they were unchanged for the previous game, the return of de Villiers means that one of the top order batsmen will have to sit this one out. As far as the bowling line-up is concerned, South Africa are likely to stick to the same attack that has served them well in the past two matches.

Sri Lanka: Apart from Mathews, pacer Nuwan Pradeep and batsman Dhanuskha Gunathilaka will also return home due to injuries. While Chandimal will lead the team in the absence of the 29-year-old allrounder, the choice would be between Sachith Pathirana and Suranga Lakmal for Mathews's position and the latter could return to the eleven to strengthen the pace attack.

Did you know:

- A win in the third T20I will give Sri Lanka their first series win (2+ matches) in 20-over cricket since their WT20 triumph in 2014.

- Dinesh Chandimal will be captaining Sri Lanka for the 22nd time in T20Is - the joint-most by any alongside Kumar Sangakkara.

- Lakshan Sandakan is the second Sri Lankan after Ashanta de Mel to take four-fer on debut in multiple formats

What they said:

"High up... possibly three (on AB de Villiers's batting position). We're looking to also get David Miller a go. He's been batting No. 4 for our side. We want to give the best batters the most balls to face. If they face anywhere between 30-50 balls, they'll be striking close to 200" - Farhaan Behardien, South Africa captain.

"Hopefully they can put it together (at Newlands), it will probably be different conditions, we'll have to assess and there'll be a couple of different players in the opposition team. But we'll have to think there's a bit of momentum going in our favour now" - Graham Ford, Sri Lanka coach.

Squads:

South Africa: Farhaan Behardien(c), AB de Villiers, Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heino Kuhn, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle, Lungisani Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, JJ Smuts

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal(c), Seekkuge Prasanna, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Lakshan Sandakan, Thikshila de Silva, Nuwan Kulasekara