With their back against the wall, especially, after their loss to India and Pakistan in their group stages, it looks like SA have started to rebuild their team .whereas SL have been in fine form with the bat through out the tournament.
SL's main weakness is their bowling attack and this could be the deciding factor for advancing to the next stage of the tournament. SL have lost its matches to New Zealand and Australia because of their lack of quality bowling options.
Stacked with all rounders have tasted SL with both success and failures. Here too, they are stacked with all-rounders in Dilshan, Mathews, Perara, Mendis. A tight games such as these, there will be a need for a quality player.
It has been Dilshan, Sangakarra and Thirumanne all the way through this series and even if two of them fail, the other batsmen will be exposed quite early and that will surely be a ploy that SA will want to adapt to.
With the chance of Herath missing the quarter-final looking 50% grim, it will cause an alarm bell for SL further badly and more so, because, this match is to be played at Sydney.
On the other hand, it has been a quite tournament for Hashim Amla and de Kock. If that changes, then SA can look for a huge score. With AB, Millers, Faf du Plessis, Russowv, and Duminey to follow, SA will have a great day with the bat.
With the pitch to offer some assistance to the slow bowlers, Imran Tahir and Duminey will be a good bowling option to tie SL down.
I only pray that AB does not bring himself to bowl.
SA are wary of the 'chokers' tag and their loss to India and Pakistan comes under this umbrella. No doubt, yet, tomorrow's match, weather permitting, should not have any cause of anxiety for SA as their top batsmen are due for a big score and their bowling attack are much stronger than that of SL.
Weather for tomorrow's match
There is a chance of rain tomorrow, and according to the rules, if this match is tied or no result, then the team that finished in the higher position in the pool stage shall proceed to the semi-finals. And even in this case, SA are firm favorites as their NRR is higher than that of SL.
Toss factor
Toss should not be a concern as Sydney has seen teams chasing in excess of 300 plus. But, again, SA will be wary of chokers tag, so they would prefer to set a target.
My Playing XI:
SA: Hashim Amla, de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, Miller, Duminey, Russowv, Philander, Morkel, Steyn, Imran Tahir
SL: Dilshan, Thirumanne, Sangakarra, Jayawardne, Kusal Perara, Mathews, Thissera Perrara, Prasanna, Kulasekara, Malinga, Lakmal
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