T20 World Cup Match Prediction: South Africa Versus Sri Lanka 25th Match. Who Will Win?

We are more or less halfway through the 2021 T20 World Cup, and things are definitely starting to take shape nicely. Bangladesh lost to the West Indies in a thriller on Friday afternoon and became the first team to be eliminated from the Super 12s stage. The next match in Group A, also called the Group of Death, will see South Africa take on Sri Lanka, and this match will have a huge significance on the group as well as the individual campaigns of both teams.

Who will go on to win this match? Read this T20 World Cup Prediction and find out.

South Africa Team News

South Africa have never been one of the favorites to qualify for the semi-finals, but the way that they have played to date has shown that they should not be ruled out completely. They put in a solid performance against the Aussies, and then got a decent win against the West Indies in their following match.

At the current moment, South Africa are third in the table with one win and one defeat to their name. They also have a pretty decent Net Run Rate of 0.719, and this is something that could prove the difference at the end of the Super 12s.

In their last game as the West Indies, South Africa were clinical from the very start as they bowled, batted and fielded very well. Aiden Markram bowled some miserly overs to start with and that put a lot of pressure on the West Indies batsmen, and wickets fell in the subsequent overs. Chasing a score of 143, the South Africa team did not get off to the best of starts, but they consolidated and got home with considerate ease.

Quinton de Kock sat out of the last game because of the off-field controversy that we do not need to go into detail about, but we expect him to be back for this next game after he issued an apology for his actions. We might actually see their captain, Temba Bavuma, drop himself further down the order with Heinrick Klaasen making way for the returning de Kock. Apart from this, we think that South Africa will have the same team that beat the West Indies.

On paper, this South Africa team is well-settled and seems to have all the bases covered. The presence of Markram and Dwaine Pretorius gives them added batting depth and does not take away from their bowling variety. Also, the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj are very capable with bat in hand. If South Africa are able to handle the spinners that Sri Lanka have, then they should go on to win.

Sri Lanka Team Preview

Sri Lanka qualified for the Super 12s stage thanks to three wins in the first stage, and there are probably quite a few cricket bettors who put a small bet on Sri Lanka to go ahead and win the tournament. In their first game, they did a very good job against Bangladesh by chasing down a pretty big score. However, they were easily defeated by Australia in their second match of the Super 12s stage.

As things stand, Sri Lanka are fourth in the table with their one win and one defeat. However, they have a pretty poor Net Run Rate of -0.416, which they will be looking to improve as the competition moves on. A win against South Africa will move them up to third and this is what they will be looking for.

On paper, it is clear to see that their major strengths are their spinners - Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Dasun Shanaka. They also have quite a strong batting lineup that bats deep with Chamika Karunaratne batting at number eight in the order.

Sri Lanka have punched above their weight in this competition, and this is what they are going to have to do in this match. If their spinners bowl as well as we all know they can, then they can cause plenty of issues for South Africa.

Toss Prediction

The captain that goes ahead and wins the toss will probably decide to bowl first because it is tricky to see a total at this stadium. Usually, the matches that are played here are won by the team that bats second, so you should keep this in mind.

Pitch Conditions

This pitch will, like it has been in previous games, be helpful to the spinners and it will not be easy to score runs on it. This, if you are considering betting on the number of fours and sixes in the match, then we suggest that you bet on the "Under" option, whatever that may be. The team batting first should look to score somewhere around 150.

Our Match Prediction

These two sides are coming off of contrasting results in their previous games, but we feel that these two sides are pretty even when it comes to their form. However, when it comes to their overall balance, South Africa definitely have the advantage. With this being said though, Sri Lanka should be in the game thanks to their quality spin bowlers. When we take a look at the odds on offer, it does make sense to bet on the Sri Lankans winning the match.

Our match prediction: