South Africa bat as Amla marks 100 Tests

South Africa bat as Amla marks 100 Tests

South Africa won the toss and chose to bat in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers on Thursday.

Hashim Amla
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Batsman Hashim Amla became just the eighth player to reach 100 Tests for South Africa as the home side looked to sweep the series 3-0.


South Africa opted for an all-pace attack, with Duanne Olivier, 24, winning his first cap. Olivier and left-armer Wayne Parnell replaced Kyle Abbott and Keshav Maharaj from the team that won the second Test in Cape Town.


"These are nice conditions for Duanne to make a debut," said South African captain Faf du Plessis. 


"He's got a bit of pace and skill. Our best team in general conditions has a spinner but at the Wanderers in the past spin doesn't really play a role."


Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said he would have bowled if he had won the toss. 


"There's lots of grass on the wicket and it's quite green and hard. It's also overcast."


Mathews said an unchanged Sri Lanka team needed to play consistently. 


"We have played well in patches but we need to play well throughout the five days," he added.


Teams:


South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier.


Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal (wkt), Upul Tharanga, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep.


Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS), Rod Tucker (AUS)


TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)


Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

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