ZAF vs LKA 1st Test Day 1 match prediction 26 Dec 2020

South Africa vs Sri Lanka 1st Test | Bets to Make You Rich

South Africa will lock horns with Sri Lanka in a two-match test series starting on Boxing Day, December 26 and it will be held at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The duo last faced each other in a two match test series held earlier in 2019. Sri Lanka won the first test series held at Kingsmead, Durban by 1 wicket and the second win of the series by 8 wickets, which was held at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth hence beating the host at their backyard. Kusal Perera smashed an unbeaten 153 to give Sri Lanka the series lead declaring him as the Man of the series and Kusal Mendis being declared as Man of the match for the second test series. What made the win more memorable for Sri Lanka was that they were the first subcontinental side to beat South Africa in a series at home. Batting was a key area of concern for South Africa last season. Though South Africa will be missing out on two key players, Kagiso Rabada and Dwaine Pretorius, there has been a new entrant in the form of Migael Pretorius, a 25-year-old who has earned a maiden call up to the South African squad for the two test series at home. Having said that I have assorted some of the best player bets for this season to bet on.

Quinton de Kock To Score Over 31.5 Runs

Quinton de Kock has been appointed South Africa's test captain limited to the 2020-21 season. In the first test, last season of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, De Kock put up a score of 80 runs with 8 boundaries and 1 six in the first innings and 55 runs with 6 boundaries in the second innings. In the second test, De Kock endowed another 86 runs with 12 boundaries as well. Now, let's take a look at De Kock's batting career summary to back my claim on this being a safe bet to bet upon. De Kock, the wicket-keeper batsman has featured in 47 test matches between 2014-2020 with a decent average of 39.12 and 2934 runs including 376 boundaries and 25 sixes. He has played 9 matches against Sri Lanka scoring 669 runs with an average of 39.35 including 74 boundaries. Playing for the home team South Africa, he has contributed in 28 matches with 1844 runs and putting up an impressive average of 43.44 including 240 boundaries and 14 sixes. Under the captainship of Faf du Plessis, he has played 36 matches with an average of 37.49, 2287 runs inclusive of 302 boundaries and 19 sixes.There is no doubt that De Kock will be dominating the game this season as well, to which Sportsbet has offered odds of 1.85 for De Kock to score over 31.5 runs which is a definite winner.

Kusal Mendis To Score Over 24.5 Runs

The last season, during the two-match series of South Africa vs Sri Lanka saw Kusal Mendis emerge as the Man Of The Match in the second test match. He shepherded Sri Lanka to one of the greatest wins last season. Mendis is a naturally aggressive batsman with his pleasing range of strokes. The 25-year-old batsman has a career average of playing 44 test matches so far with 2995 runs and an impressive average of 36.97 which includes 369 boundaries and 28 sixes. In his last stint against South Africa in the 2019 season we saw him pick up 84 runs including 13 boundaries in the second innings of the second test. Mendis has played 7 matches against South Africa with an average of 24.07 including 51 boundaries and 2 sixes. In South Africa, he has played a total of 5 matches with an average of 27.77 which includes 41 boundaries. For home team Sri Lanka, Mendis has contributed in 17 matches between 2015-2019 and has bagged 1236 runs with an average of 36.35 including 149 boundaries and 14 sixes. Considering his batting statistics, this is a winner bet and Sportsbet has offered odds of 1.85 for Kusal Mendis to score over 24.5 runs.

Suranga Lakmal to Take Under 3.5 Wickets

The last season during the two-match series saw the visitor, Sri Lanka clawing their way in the game through a disciplined bowling effort. One out of the lot being Lakmal, who managed to take 4 wickets in the second innings of the first test held in 2019 but that was it, because thereafter Lakmal failed to impress quite consistently. His performance in the first test last year was not upto the mark where he managed to draw only one wicket in the 1st innings and went wicketless in the second innings, followed by yet another wicketless first innings of the second test simultaneously. His bowling career summary shows a total of 61 matches played with an average of 2.47 wickets per match which is way below the asking rate. His performance has not been consistent while playing for home team as well, he has played a total of 22 matches for Sri Lanka and managed an average of 1.45 wickets per game only. He has played 9 matches against South Africa with an average of 3.4 wickets per match. So to sum up the same ,Bet365 has offered odds of 1.80 for Suranga Lakmal to take below 3.5 wickets.