South Africa will be keen to shed "chokers" tag and end their World Cup knockout misery in a Sydney quarter-final with Sri Lanka. Catch all the live updates of the match here: (Live Scorecard )
South Africa lead Sri Lanka 2-1 in head-to-heads.
© AFP
The Proteas have never won a World Cup knockout match since their tournament debut in 1992, with a series of near-misses leaving them with the unwanted tag of "chokers". South Africa skipper AB de Villiers wants to lead by example.
"We can't focus on what happened back in the day. We can just work with what we've got right now. I'm the captain, and I want to lead by example. And I believe the guys will follow," de Villiers said. (Read more)
Some have tried to bill the match as a contest between de Villiers and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who comes into the match having scored a record four successive one-day international hundreds.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews hopes his side can feed off yet more passionate support from their fans. When Sri Lanka played tournament co-hosts Australia at the SCG during the pool stages, the vast number of supporters from local expatriate communities, as well as travelling fans, generated so much noise and colour it made the match seem like a home game for the Islanders.
Sri Lanka remain uncertain over the fitness of Rangana Herath, who suffered a finger injury against England, with the bowler's left-arm spin likely to be effective on a SCG pitch renowned for taking turn.
KEY PLAYERS
AB de Villiers' last innings at the SCG was a staggering 162 not out which included the quickest 150 in an ODI, off just 64 balls, against the West Indies in a pool match.
Kumar Sangakkara has been in sensational form with the bat at this World Cup becoming the first man to score hundreds in four successive ODIs with innings of 105 not out against Bangladesh, 117 not out against England, 104 against Australia and 124 against Scotland.
STATS
Seven of the last eight One Day Internationals between these teams have been won by the team that batted first. All eight of these matches were played in Sri Lanka.
The last 16 ODIs between South Africa and Sri Lanka have produced eight wins apiece.
Malinga has taken 92 ODI wickets bowled, the joint-fifth most with Anil Kumble. Wasim Akram (176) has the most.
Kumar Sangakkara needs one stumping to become the first wicket-keeper to take 100 ODI stumpings.
Sangakkara needs four runs to become the seventh player to score 500 runs in a World Cup tournament. He has four centuries in this tournament, the most recorded in a single World Cup.
De Villiers (1,142 in 21 innings) needs seven runs to pass Jacques Kallis (1,148 in 32) as South Africa's leading World Cup run-scorer.
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