Toss Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat v South Africa
South Africa’s attack, armed with only one specialist spinner, were put straight into work in Colombo after Suranga Lakmal opted to bat in the second Test.
Despite the spinner-friendly surface, South Africa opted to leave out left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi and go into the match with only Keshav Maharaj, while sticking with their strategy of three fast bowlers. Vernon Philander, who only bowled 11 of the 112 overs in Galle, was left out to allow Lungi Ngidi to earn his fourth Test cap. South Africa also lengthened their batting with the inclusion of Theunis de Bruyn as a seventh specialist batsman.
Sri Lanka stuck with three specialist spinners in the XI, with one change. Lakshan Sandakan, the left-arm wristspinner who took two wickets in Galle, was left out in favour of offspinner Akila Dananjaya, who will play his third Test. That was the only change to Sri Lanka’s winning team from Galle, with no room for Lahiru Kumara in the series.
South Africa: 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Temba Bavuma, 5 Faf du Plessis (capt), 6 Quinton de Kock (wk), 7 Theunis de Bruyn, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Roshen Silva, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Kusal Perera, 9 Suranga Lakmal (capt), 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Akila Dananjaya
Source: ESPN Crickinfo