South Africa and Sri lanka are hoping to recover from recent setbacks in one-day cricket when they contest a five-match series starting in Colombo on Saturday.
Both teams were knocked out in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom despite being rated as two of the strongest contenders in the eight-nation tournament. The Proteas lived up to their reputation as cricket’s “chokers”, a tag outgoing coach Gary Kirsten said was fully justified following the semifinal defeat against England at the Oval in london.
Sri lanka, World Cup runners-up to India in 2011, fell to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men twice in two weeks when the Champions Trophy defeat was followed by a loss in the tri-series final in the West Indies.