Sri Lanka record in South Africa paints a dull picture

It is said that one of the ways to judge the future is to look into the past. Doing exactly that does not paint a pretty picture for the Sri Lankan team as they start the Standard Bank One-Day International Series at the Wanderers.

The last time these two countries met on South African soil, the Sri Lankans were totally outclassed and sent home nursing a few players with severely dented reputations and ego's. The series ended in a 5 to one victory to the Proteas.

The statistics from that series shows Russell Arnold as the most successful batsman with an average of 54 runs. The little keeper Kaluwitharana was second with 37,8. Looking down the list, names like Sangakkarra, Attapattu appear near the top, but Jayawardene only averaged 26. The real problem for the Sri Lankans on that tour was not only the bounce and pace but the fact that the two great men, Aravinda and Jayasuria performed very poorly. Between them they scored just over 140 runs in eight attempts. Throughout the series, the visitors could not post enough runs on the board to allow their match winner Murali, a chance to bowl with some pressure on the Proteas to score quickly. In four games Murali only took 6 wickets at an average of 39 per wicket.

On the other hand, the South Africans had a field day. Rhodes averaged 91 and three others all were in excess of 41.

The bowling figures also reflect that Pollock and Ntini caused havoc every match and ended with averages of 21 respectively, after taking 19 wickets between them.

The names that makeup the statistics certainly don't differ much from those that will appear in the team sheets over the next five matches. Whether the Sri Lankans have become better players away from home or the South Africans have lost confidence after the disruptive past two years remains to be seen. One thing is for certain; no quarter will be asked or given!