South Africa vs Sri Lanka Test series Live Streaming: Squads, all you need to know

With crucial World Test Championship points up for grabs, South Africa and Sri Lanka will start the 2-match series on Wednesday, November 27. Both teams will be going for the win as the race for the WTC Final heats up.

In Short

• South Africa and Sri Lanka will square off in a 2-match Test series
• Both teams need to win to keep WTC Final hopes alive
• Bavuma will be leading South Africa once again

South Africa and Sri Lanka are all set to battle it out in a 2-match Test series, with serious World Test Championship final implications. Both teams come into the contest on the back of series wins against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively and still have a chance of making it to the final in 2025.

For South Africa, this will be the start of 4 home Tests as they will also be welcoming Pakistan before the end of the WTC 2023-25 cycle. Sri Lanka will have a home assignment of 2 Tests against Australia, who recently lost the Perth Test to India. The top 5 teams in the standings have all got a chance of making it to the summit clash and the margin for error is very less at the moment.

How can South Africa and Sri Lanka reach the WTC Final?

South Africa and Sri Lanka will have their work cut out in terms of the qualification scenario. Both teams will have to win all their remaining matches to ensure they reach the summit clash without having to depend on other results.

If South Africa can beat Sri Lanka 2-0, then the Island nation's chances of making it to the final will be all but over. However, if Sri Lanka can get a win against the Proteas, it will setup a grand finish for them heading into the home series against Australia.

What the captains said

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said that they have been picking the brains of consultant Neil McKenzie on how they can tackle the conditions in South Africa.

"Neil [McKenzie]) was good. He was with us for a week. It was a good week, and we got some points from him. We went to a lot of batting sessions with him. He's a very good cricketer and a very open person, so we took a lot of his information. How do we adapt to this bounce? How do we adapt to these conditions? How do we adapt to this seam? How do we adapt to this ground condition? We took a lot of things," said De Silva.

Temba Bavuma, who is coming back from an injury lay-off, said that every match for the Proteas will now be a final.

"The team is as ready as it can be. We've had a good camp at the HPC (High Performance Centre) last week. We've come here to Kingsmead and we've equipped ourselves as well as we could. There's a lot of excitement amongst the group. We have four games left in our Test Championship, and every game is as important as a final so guys are as ready as I said. Guys are excited. And I'm excited to be back within the team again. I think you should be seeing some good stuff from the guys," said Bavuma.

South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Schedule

The first Test will be from November 27 to December 1 in Kingsmead, Durban while the second one in Gqberha will be from December 5 to 9.

South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Head-to-Head

South Africa and Sri Lanka have faced each other in 31 Tests, with the Proteas winning 16 of them. The Island nation has won 9 matches, while 6 games have ended in a draw.

South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Squads

South Africa squad:

Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton and Kyle Verreynne.

Sri Lanka squad:

Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Oshada Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lasith Embuldeniya, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha.

South Africa vs Sri Lanka: When and where to watch

The 2024 South Africa vs. Sri Lanka Test series, part of the ICC World Test Championship, will be broadcast live on the Sports 18-1 and Sports 18-1 HD channels. Fans can also stream the matches live through the JioCinema app and website.