Having already knocked out of the World T20, South Africa and Sri lanka will look to end their campaign on a high note when they face each other in a dead rubber Super10 match here at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Monday.
Sri lanka was knocked out by England on Saturday night. On a day when the Island nation needed a victory to keep their chance as well as Proteas' hope alive of making it to the semifinal, Sri lanka lost and ended both the team's chances.
Angelo Mathews led team has only registered one win in this tournament. The win came against minnows Afghanistan in their first match. Since then the lions have lost to West Indies and England. England's 10-run win meant that they along with West Indies are going into the semifinal from Group 1.
It will be difficult for the South Africa team to digest the fact that they have been eliminated from the World T20 despite having players who might inflict fear into the opponent's minds
In South Africa's first game against England, the Proteas set a mammoth target of 230 for England and they looked like the team to beat. But the script went horribly wrong as their bowlers let them down to allow the Europeans chase down the target with two balls to spare.
From then on, the team didn't look the same. Even the minnows Afghanistan managed to scare the Proteas in a spirited run chase that fell short. They followed it with another loss to West Indies. South Africa are the only team in the tournament to have scored more than 200 twice so far, but still struggled to cement their places as genuine contenders.
Sri lanka's campaign is no different either, it has not been the kind of tournament lanka team nor their fans back home expected. Retirement of their players like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene has hit the team hard with captain Angelo Mathews insisting that "The team is in transition phase". If this was not enough then lanka spearhead lasith Malinga injury just added salt to deepen their wounds.
It is a huge task for Mathews now to rebuild the team. Mathews and Thisara Perera have been there in the side for a long time but the top-order with the likes of Dinesh Chandimal and Dilshan have failed to deliver for the team when they really needed it most.
Despite all these setbacks, there are some positives to be taken out of the lankan team. The emergence of young paceman Dushmantha Chameera is a good sign but they need more firepower in both batting and bowling departments. Another youngster Jeffrey Vandersay (spinner), who was brilliant in both the matches against England and West Indies, looks a promising player.
Since Sri lanka has played here on Saturday, they will definitely have a better idea about the conditions. But they are up against a team which can deepen their wounds. With this match having nothing at stake except pride, Sri lanka have the license to play freely. If Sri lanka can repeat their gritty second half performance they showed against England, the lions will take a lot of confidence from the event back home.
Squad
Sri lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Shehan Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga lakmal, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, and lahiru Thirimanne.
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, David Miller, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.