South Africa v Sri Lanka & New Zealand v Bangladesh: betting previews and tips

First Test: South Africa v Sri Lanka
Sky Sports Cricket, 8am Wednesday

Sri Lanka's Test team have endured a miserable couple of months, following a 3-0 home series defeat to England with losses in New Zealand and Australia.

Captain Dinesh Chandimal has been dropped after scoring just 24 runs in four innings against Australia and his replacement Dimuth Karunaratne takes an inexperienced squad into the two-Test series against South Africa.

It's a brutally tough ask for Karunaratne, especially as he also has to open the batting against a fired-up Proteas attack who bowled out Pakistan for 181, 190, 177, 294, 185 and 273 in their 3-0 series victory in December and January.

Duanne Olivier was outstanding in that series but Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn will also enjoy a crack at a weak Sri Lankan batting line-up and Steyn could be the pick of the bunch in the first innings of the first Test in Durban.

The elder statesman of the attack started 2019 by claiming seven Pakistan wickets in the second Test in Cape Town and he has an excellent record at Kingsmead, taking 44 scalps in nine matches at an average of just under 22.

Recommendation
D Steyn top South Africa first-innings wicket-taker
1pt 11-4 Betfair, BoyleSports, Hills

First ODI: New Zealand v Bangladesh
Sky Sports Cricket, 1am Wednesday

New Zealand were outclassed by India in a 4-1 ODI series defeat but they should get back to winning ways against a Bangladesh side missing star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan through injury.

The three-match series begins at Napier's McLean Park and Ross Taylor appeals at 12-1 to be named man of the match given his terrific 50-over form since the start of 2017.

Taylor averages a shade under 69 in ODIs in the last two years, with five centuries and 14 fifties in 38 innings, and he loves batting in Napier, where he has made 734 runs in 14 one-day games.

Recommendation
R Taylor to be man of the match
1pt 12-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

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