South Africa opt to bat with de Kock, Miller in XI; Theekshana makes T20I debut

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The hosts also brought back Bhanuka Rajapaksa after his two ducks in the first two ODIs

Toss South Africa chose to bat v Sri Lanka

Quinton de Kock and David Miller return to South Africa’s XI after missing the ODIs and will be in action early, after Keshav Maharaj chose to bat on his T20I debut in the series opener. de Kock was rested from the ODIs, which South Africa lost 1-2, while Miller had a hamstring injury.

Reeza Hendricks will open the batting with de Kock, with Aiden Markram in at No. 3 and Heinrich Klaasen at No. 4. South Africa included one allrounder – seam bowler Dwaine Pretorius – three spinners, Maharaj, Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi, and two frontline quicks. There was no room for spin-bowling allrounder George Linde, who was left out of the T20 World Cup squad yesterday.

Sri Lanka were also spin heavy and handed Maheesh Theekshana his debut after he impressed with 4 for 37 in his first ODI on Tuesday. Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya, who was left out of the deciding ODI, make up the rest of the spin attack.

The hosts also brought back Bhanuka Rajapaksa after his two ducks in the first two ODIs, with Dinesh Chandimal and Avishka Fernando to open the batting and Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka making up the rest of the top five.

Sri Lanka: 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Akila Dananjaya

South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk) 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 David Miller, 6 Dwaine Pretorius, 7 Keshav Maharaj (capt), 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Bjorn Fortuin, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent

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