South Africa v Sri Lanka odds and live: 1st Test at Centurion Visit Bet365 Save For Later Posted by Suneer Chowdhary 15 Dec 2011 Tweet Kumar Sangakkara will hope to get fit by the start of the first Test match against South Africa. (credit: Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images) Related Articles See all Test Series news Share it Pin It South Africa play Sri Lanka in the first game of the three-match series at Centurion from December 15. Watch & bet on live Test match cricket streaming at Bet365 > live streaming > cricketA green pitch is expected for the game in a bid to unsettle the struggling Sri Lankan batting line-up. Probably taking a cue from the track prepared at Hobart in the recently concluded game between Australia and New Zealand, the curator has decided to leave a lot of grass on the track. Batting will be difficult and that fact shouldn’t change through the duration of the five days.South Africa will relish these conditions. They have four pace bowlers in their squad who can exploit them and if necessary, they may even drop the spinner to accommodate all four. However, with Jacques Kallis (7/2 at Boylesports to top-score for South Africa) their backup seam-up option in the line-up, the think-tank may not want to put all their eggs in one basket. One of left-arm spinner Paul Harris or leg-spinner Imran Tahir could get a look-in.The batting, despite their collapses in the series against Australia, should remain the same for the home team. While a backup opening batsman, Alviro Peterson, was recalled into the squad, Jacques Rudolph (5/1 at BetFred) should continue to open. Rudolph had scores of 14, 18, 24 and 30 in the four innings he played against Australia. He will now need to convert his start into a three-figure score to retain the selectors’ trust. Sri Lanka’s batting problems have been well-chronicled. Two of their most experienced top-order batsmen, captain T Dilshan (9/2 at Stan James) and Mahela Jayawardene average 33 and 27 in the last 12 months. Opening batsman Lahiru Thirimanne averages 25. What this poor batting translates into is 14 Test matches without a win for the Lankan side. And in a country where Sri Lanka have never won a single Test match in 18 years of trying, things are not going to get easier. The selectors threw a lifeline at middle-order batsman Thilan Samaraweera by selecting him for this series after there were speculations that he had played his last game at the international level. In reality they were only trying to beef up the middle-order which is beginning to look one of the most fragile in the world. Kumar Sangakkara (10/3 at Boylesports) will continue to hold the key to Sri Lanka’s fortunes but even he may not go into the game fully fit. He split the webbing of his hand and the news was that there were doubts over his selection. The Sri Lankan woes do not end there. Already without the likes of Muthiah Muralitharan (retired), Lasith Malinga (retired from Tests) and Suranga Lakmal (injured), they have now lost quick bowler Nuwan Pradeep to fitness problems. This leaves them without too many fast bowlers for a pitch which will suit that variety of bowling. Bwin offers 5/11 for a South African win while Sri Lanka go in at 8/1 (BetFred) to win their first Test in that country. A draw is at 4/1 (SportingBet)The first South Africa v Sri Lanka Test match at Centurion will be played from December 15. 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