CHESTER-LE-STREET: South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first in their World Cup match against rejuvenated Sri Lanka in Chester-le-Street on Friday.
A win for Sri Lanka, who beat England last week, would lift them level with the fourth-placed hosts on eight points, with the top four sides progressing to the semi-finals.
Faf du Plessis's South Africa can no longer qualify from the 10-team group phase.
"Looking at the stats, they are in favour of bowling first," said Du Plessis.
"I've got a bowling attack which is more of a seam attack, so we're hoping the seam movement first up will be something to work with.
"We're playing an extra batter today, so hopefully that frees them up. We've been playing catch-up in most games."
Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne said he was hoping his batsmen could put the side in a commanding position.
"If we can put a score on the board, hopefully the bowlers will do the rest," he said.
"It was great against England that the experienced guys stood up. We're looking at winning this match first, then we'll think about the next two."
South Africa made two changes, bringing in Dwaine Pretorius and JP Duminy for Lungi Ngidi and David Miller.
Sri Lanka brought in seamer Suranga Lakmal for Nuwan Pradeep.
Teams:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Perera (wkt), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal.
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Faf du Plessis (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, JP Duminy, Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir
—AFP
