The 2023 Cricket World Cup is underway in India, and what a tournament we have to look forward to! South Africa will face Sri Lanka in Delhi on Saturday, and it is a rather interesting matchup we have to explore in more detail. South Africa finished 7th in the 2019 World Cup, which was held in England & Wales, and will look to improve their overall result this time around, as they are slightly favoured over Sri Lanka to start off their tournament.
In theory, we can expect a tight match between two sides that have not been the most impressive in recent weeks, as both South Africa and Sri Lanka failed to win either of their World Cup warmup matches – Sri Lanka, in particular, lost to Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The SriLankan’s have arrived at this world cup without any grandiose expectations – unlike South Africa – but they are good enough to be considered a dark horse to win the tournament, as teams such as Pakistan, New Zealand and, especially, India, are favored to win the trophy.
This won’t be an easy match for either side, although on paper South Africa should have enough to just edge the encounter, but Sri Lanka will pose a tough test for the Proteas. The stats back this up as well, considering that in their last five ODI meetings, South Africa won three and Sri Lanka two, meaning there is not a whole lot between the two sides.
Currently, South Africa and Sri Lanka are positioned in fourth and seventh spot respectively in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) ranking of ODI teams. With that being said, we look forward to checking out this eventful encounter and give South Africa a thin edge over Sri Lanka.
South Africa to Win – 1.46
Sri Lanka to Win – 2.75
