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MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo anunciou no fim da noite desta quarta-feira, perto do fechamento da janela para contratações de atletas vindos do exterior, a contratação do meia-atacante Vitor Bueno, que estava emprestado pelo Santos ao Dinamo de Kiev (UCR) desde agosto de 2018. Ele chega por empréstimo até dezembro de 2020.

Depois de muito relutar, o Santos aceitou reemprestar o jogador de 24 anos ao rival. Para que a negociação fosse concluída, era preciso que o Dinamo enviasse o ITC (documento de transferência) até 23h59 desta quarta-feira, o que acabou acontecendo.

Na negociação, o Tricolor abriu mão dos 10% a que teria direito sobre o valor pago pelo Santos ao Krasnodar (RUS) pela compra de Cueva, o que equivale a 700 mil dólares (R$ 2,7 milhões). Essa quantia só cairia nos cofres são-paulinos em março de 2022, quando está previsto o fim do pagamento do Santos ao clube russo.

Além disso, Vitor Bueno aceitou reduzir o salário que receberá no São Paulo para que R$ 600 mil sejam repassados ao Santos ao longo do período de empréstimo.

Bueno se destacou pelo Santos principalmente em 2016, quando ganhou o prêmio de revelação do Brasileirão na eleição da CBF. No mesmo ano, foi um dos principais jogadores no título paulista do Peixe e foi eleito o autor do gol mais bonito, contra o Capivariano.

Vitor lesionou o joelho direito em julho de 2017 e não retomou mais o bom futebol no Santos, tanto que acabou emprestado ao Dinamo de Kiev no meio do ano passado. Na Ucrânia, estava sem espaço.

Este é o terceiro reforço da era Cuca no São Paulo. Antes, chegaram Alexandre Pato e Tchê Tchê.

Daryl Mitchell’s second List-A hundred handed Bangladesh A their fifth successive loss of the tour, ahead of the one-day series against England Lions

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2013
ScorecardFile photo – Daryl Mitchell scored his third consecutive 50-plus score•Getty Images

Daryl Mitchell’s second List-A hundred handed Bangladesh A their fifth successive loss of the tour, ahead of the one-day series against England Lions. The visitors went down to Worcestershire by six wickets at New Road after scoring 274.Worcestershire knocked off the target in 47.3 overs, mainly due to Mitchell’s 101 and contributions from debutant Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Alexei Kervezee. Mitchell and Kohler-Cadmore put on 97 runs for the opening partnership, before Mitchell put on another 92 with Kervezee for the second wicket. The two stands took Worcestershire needing only 85 at less than four an over.Mitchell struck nine fours and a six in his 102-ball knock, making it his third consecutive 50-plus score after half-centuries against Kent and Nottinghamshire in the Yorkshire Bank 40.Kohler-Cadmore started the charge, hammering Al-Amin Hossain for two fours and a six off successive deliveries in the sixth over that went for 16 runs. Boundaries flowed quite easily thereafter, and his dismissal for 47 off 52 balls wasn’t a restriction. Kervezee slipped in well, making a 35-ball 45.None of the Bangladesh A bowlers made an impact or curbed the scoring, with only Robiul Islam offering some control and Sohag Gazi taking two wickets.The only positive for Bangladesh A was their batting, particularly Anamul Haque’s second List-A century. He reached the mark in 119 balls, and got out three balls later with eight fours and three sixes to his name. He got support from middle-order batsman Mominul Haque, with whom he added 96 for the third wicket. The pair fell within five overs with Mominul making 64 off 60. Later, Naeem Islam breezed to an unbeaten 35-ball 47. Left-arm spinner Shaaiq Choudhry took the first three wickets while Charles Morris took two.Bangladesh A’s three-match one-day series against England Lions begins on August 20 in Bristol.

ScorecardDevon Smith, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, ensured Windward Islands stayed on top in a small chase•WICB Media Photo/Randy Brooks

Windward Islands put in an all-round showing to beat Combined Campuses and Colleges by nine wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis method and secure the Regional Super50 title in Bridgetown. This is the first one-day championship Windwards have won since the 2000-2001 season.CCC lost the toss and were put in to bat. Keon Peters’ opening spell proved decisive as he removed the top three batsmen within eight overs. At one point, CCC were wobbling at 31 for 4, but were able to recover to 121 for 5 through the efforts of captain Kyle Corbin (46) and Nekoli Parris (34).Once Corbin fell, however, CCC began to struggle even more, and they eventually were dismissed for 174 in the final over of the innings. Peters led the way with 4 for 32, while Shillingford’s impressive tournament continued with his haul of 3 for 29 to remove the middle-lower order. Shillingford finished as the tournament’s highest wicket taker, with 17 wickets in six matches at an economy of 2.86.Rain intervened during the innings break, caused a two-hour delay, and subsequently Windward’s target was reduced from to 134 in 29 overs. Devon Smith and Johnson Charles led the way with an opening stand of 100 at over a run-a-ball to effectively end CCC’s chances. Once Charles fell to the bowling of Keswick Williams, Smith and Tyrone Theophile closed out the game in the 23rd over.Smith ended on an unbeaten 67, and finished the tournament as the highest run scorer with 348 runs in eight matches at an average of 58. Man-of-the-Match honours went to Peters and Smith for their vital contributions.Speaking after the game, Liam Sebastien, the Windwards captain, said: “This is very pleasing. It is a long time [since] we won something, and it is just wonderful that we have won this championship.”

After nine years at the helm, former England captain embraces new beginnings

Valkerie Baynes15-May-2025Heather Knight is looking forward to “being one of the girls again”, closing nine years’ worth of necessary distance between her and her team over the course of her England captaincy.Speaking for the first time since her long tenure as leader ended more than six weeks ago in the aftermath of England’s 16-0 Ashes defeat, Knight said she was still adjusting to the idea of simply being a player in the side.”Lots has changed,” Knight said. “I’ve just been reflecting on a really enjoyable nine years as captain. I really loved it and I’m really excited for the next chapter as well. I’ve had a bit of time to let the news digest and move forward and am quite excited for what’s to come. I’m looking forward to having a little bit more time on my hands being one of the girls again. I’m feeling pretty positive and obviously looking forward to moving on.”As captain, naturally there’s a little bit of water between you and the sides because you’re involved in decision making and things like that. I have a little bit more time on my hands to hang out with people and things like that, so that’s quite exciting.”There’s certainly bits of the captaincy that I’ll miss, but there’s certainly things I won’t miss as well. I love captaining and I think it brought the best out of me as a person and as a player. So I guess now the new challenge for me is how I get my best out of myself when I’m not captain and when I’m playing.”Related

• The names in the frame as England women's new era begins

• Chinelle Henry to miss West Indies tour of England

• Nat Sciver-Brunt juggles captaincy, motherhood and injury ahead of England redemption quest

• Ecclestone out, Wong in as England Women name squads to face West Indies

• Ecclestone fifty rescues Lancashire before Morris five-for destroys Warwickshire

Nat Sciver-Brunt has replaced Knight as England captain and earlier this week, in her first public engagement since her appointment and returning from maternity leave, said she was keen to pick her predecessor’s brain when the squads convene for their upcoming white-ball series with West Indies.”I’m going to be signing her up for a few coffees when we get onto tour and just getting into a few details of captaincy and how she found it,” Sciver-Brunt said. “We’ve had a great working relationship together, obviously being her vice-captain, and I don’t see that changing really going forward.”Apart from some congratulatory messages, Knight said she had only spoken briefly to Sciver-Brunt, who recently brought baby son Theo into the national performance centre at Loughborough to meet the team he and Sciver-Brunt’s wife Katherine, the former England seamer, will be touring with.Knight said: “I wish her best of luck. I said, ‘do it in your way.’ I’m really pleased for her that she’s got this opportunity. I’m there if she needs me. I’m always there as a voice. I’m very much going to get in the background and be there if needed to be called on by whoever and just look forward to focusing on the batting and supporting Nat and the team in any way that I can.”Knight played under the captaincy of Phoebe Litchfield at Sydney Thunder in the most recent edition of the WBBL and featured in the first six rounds of the Metro Bank One Day Cup domestic competition for Somerset, where Sophie Luff is skipper.Moving to the top of the order, Knight has scored 244 runs at an average of 40.66 and strike rate of 90.37 for her county. She has also taken four wickets with her off-spin, including 3 for 7 against Essex, coming out of bowling “semi-retirement” with new England Women’s head coach Charlotte Edwards’ planning to deploy her more with the ball.Knight could be swung into bowling action early for England. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone played her first domestic game of the season for Lancashire on Wednesday following a knee injury which Edwards said had ruled her out of selection for the West Indies series and seamer Sciver-Brunt will play as a batter only for the start of the summer as she continues her recovery from an Achilles problem. Seamers Freya Kemp and Lauren Bell are also out with back and knee injuries respectively and will miss the three T20Is and three ODIs against West Indies starting on May 21.”When I played the first game for Somerset, it was the first time I’d bowled in a match in a year,” Knight said. “I’d sort of semi-retired, I guess. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s another thing to get stuck into in the field.”I’m probably a bit more competitive when I bowl than when I bat. I like to be quite calm when I bat, but when I bowl I probably try and get in a little bit of a battle and a little bit of a fight because that gets the best out of me. I’ll always see myself as a part-timer I think, and try and do a role when I can. But I do enjoy it and I’ve been asked to bowl a little bit more. If I can provide an option and bowl a few overs down, I’ll be completely happy.”Joe Root made a successful transition from Test England captain to batter when he stepped down in 2022 after five years in the role.”He was pretty good as captain, to be honest, had a pretty good record, to be fair,” said Knight during a community event as part of the Net Gains initiative. “I think that gets missed a little bit. I’ll probably have a better record when I was captain – I’ve just done it for a long time – but it is now finding the best way to get the best out of me is a batter.”I’m just looking forward to enjoying my cricket. Not that I didn’t enjoy captaincy, I did really enjoy it, but just being a player and trying to contribute to team wins as much as I can.” IG is the Official Investment Platform of England Cricket. Through the Net Gains initiative, IG and the ECB have invested to open new public net facilities to help grow the game of cricket in England and Wales, supporting under-represented communities and generating long-term real returns for the game and the people who play it.

MatériaMais Notícias

Craques do passado e do presente deram aos mais de 40 mil torcedores uma prova de seus talentos nesta quinta-feira, no Maracanã, na 15ª edição do Jogo Das Estrelas. O evento beneficente reuniu nomes como Vinícius Júnior, de 18 anos, a Jayme de Almeida, de 65 anos passando por ícones como Seedorf, Kaká, Petkovic e Adriano Imperador. O resultado – o fato menos importante da noite – foi a vitória dos Estrelas Vermelhas por 7 a 5 sobre os Estrelas Brancas. Zico, idealizador do evento, presentou os fãs com dois golaços.

A festa no Maracanã começou bem antes dos craques entrarem em campo. Às 18h, o Jogo dos Artistas já entreteve aqueles torcedores que estavam no Maracanã antes do sol se pôr. Ainda antes da principal atração do evento beneficente, um show de cerca de 30 minutos da cantora australiana Iggy Azalea levantou a arquibancada. Depois, a bola rolou para as estrelas.

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De Zico para Vinícius Júnior: Galinho decide!

Um dos momentos mais celebrados foi a assistência de Zico para Vinícius Júnior, que marcou na saída de Carlos Germano, ídolo do Vasco. O lance combinou duas gerações diferentes do Rubro-Negro. Atual jogador do Real Madrid, da Espanha, o atacante levantou a torcida com embaixadinhas e outros lances de efeito. E mais: foi para a galera na comemoração de seu gol.

Além de Vini Jr, marcaram para os Estrelas Vermelhas: Cribari (Contra), Lucas Paquetá (duas vezes), Filipe Coimbra (neto de Zico) e Zico, duas vezes. Os gols do dono da festa foram de pura categoria e decisivos, já que foram os quarto e quinto dos Estrelas Vermelhas, que abriu vantagem naquele momento. A tranquilidade e a categoria para encobrir Marcelo Lomba, nos dois lances, não é para todos.

Para os Estrelas Brancas, descontaram Gabigol, com assistência de Renato Portaluppi, Seedorf, Alex Dias, Alcindo e Mozer (Contra). O craque holandês, com passagem pelo Botafogo, atuou os 90 minutos com a categoria já conhecida.

Vaias a Renato e Gabigol…

Desejado por muitos rubro-negros há algumas semanas, Renato Portaluppi ouviu vaias desde o momento em que seu nome foi citado na escalação do Estrelas Brancas. A Nação parece não ter perdoado a resposta negativa do treinador ao Flamengo, preferindo seguir no Grêmio em 2019.

Das arquibancadas, compostas em sua maioria por torcedores do Flamengo, também vieram vaias direcionadas ao atacante Gabigol, que pode reforçar o time em 2019. O ex-santista, inclusive, foi quem mais deu trabalho aos defensores do Estrelas Vermelhas. Quando marcou um gol e reverenciou a torcida, o camisa 9 transformou partes das vaias em aplausos e gritos de “Ão, ão, ão! Gabigol é do Mengão!”.

Que isso, Imperador!

Um dos nomes mais festejados no Maracanã foi o de Adriano Imperador. No entanto, a Nação continuará apegada às boas lembranças do Imperador de 2009, ano em que o camisa 9 comandou o ataque do time que viria a ser hexacampeão brasileiro. O centroavante teve atuação discreta e passou em branco, tendo perdido duas chances claras.

MatériaMais Notícias

Como não poderia ser diferente, o Estádio Nilton Santos estará lotado para presenciar a despedida de um do maiores ídolos recentes do Botafogo, nesta segunda-feira, no duelo contra o Paraná, agendado para as 20h (de Brasília) e válido pela 37ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro. Jefferson, confirmado para o titular, será o grande protagonista da noite que tinha tudo para ser protocolar, caso o quesito esportivo fosse o único levado em consideração. O LANCE! transmitirá a partida em tempo real.

Para melhorar o tempero, não será apenas Jefferson que deve retornar em grande estilo diante da torcida alvinegra. Já recuperado, João Paulo, depois de oito meses em recuperação de graves fraturas, está novamente relacionado e é outro que deve ser aproveitado por Zé Ricardo na partida abastecida de muita emoção.

E o combustível do Botafogo não para por aí. Pressionado por conta da zona do rebaixamento até há pouco dias, o Alvinegro, já livre da queda, sem chances de Libertadores e a garantido na Copa Sul-Americana de 2019, também cita o fator financeiro como estímulo. Um dos capitães do elenco, Rodrigo Lindoso chegou a sublinhar esse quesito ao longo da semana.

– Fizemos o último jogo para ganhar, mas hoje estamos praticamente na Sul-Americana. Podemos ganhar uma ou duas posições. Vamos brigar por isso. Quanto mais na parte de cima da tabela, é importante para o clube. Além disso, tem o bônus financeiro – salientou Lindoso, que completou:

– Nesses dois jogos, fazendo uns quatro pontos terminaríamos o ano bem.

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O Botafogo soma 48 pontos e se encontra na 10ª colocação, com um jogo a menos em relação ao restante próximo. A premiação oriunda da CBF, hoje, seria de R$ 1.594.350,00 milhões. A posição mais alta que o clube da Estrela Solitária pode chegar é a 8ª na tabela, atualmente distante por cinco pontos – e ocupada pelo Atlético-PR, sendo que o Cruzeiro, o 8º lugar, acumula quatro pontos a mais.

Portanto, se tudo ocorrer no melhor dos cenários, com os rivais citados acima tropeçando e o Botafogo vencer os dois próximos jogos, a 8ª colocação seria possível e a premiação, de R$ 2.072.655,00, rechearia ainda mais os bolsos botafoguenses. E dá para dizer que foco e respeito pelo Paraná, o primeiro desafio daqui até o fim, não faltará.

Mahela Jayawardene said the struggles of the debutant Isuru Udana turned out to be a blessing in disguise as his replacement, Thisara Perera, altered the course of the game

Abhishek Purohit in Hambantota24-Jul-2012Isuru Udana, the left-arm fast bowler, had a forgettable ODI debut. His opening over contained five wides and two boundaries and went for 16. It was also the over that was to completely alter the course of the game. With India racing to 31 for 0 in three overs and Udana struggling to cope with the stiff breeze across the ground, Mahela Jayawardene handed the ball to Thisara Perera in the fourth. Perera started with three wicket-maidens taking out Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina in each. Three successive wicket-maidens. Almost unbelievable. He could have had a double-wicket maiden but for a dropped catch. Almost ridiculous. India managed 138.Jayawardene said Udana’s waywardness turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Sri Lanka. “Isuru strayed all over the place in the first over,” Jayawardene said. “I felt he was a bit too nervous trying to fight with the wind. He bowled really well at practice yesterday.”The other experienced bowlers I had were Thisara and Angelo [Mathews] so I just gave him the ball because the other day he bowled well from that end and did the job for us. He’s improved quite a bit in confidence and I think the consistency is the most important thing which he is striving for. He’s been consistent for us in the last six months to one year. Every day he keeps improving and he is putting his hand up to play Test cricket as well.”Increasingly, there is hardly anything that Perera cannot pull off on a cricket field. He slams sixes so effectively that he has already been compared to Lance Klusener and Shahid Afridi, by no less than his coach and captain respectively. Increasingly, defending sides, even if they are ahead, don’t feel a total is safe against Sri Lanka till Perera is dismissed.Increasingly, he is turning out to be that deceptive kind of bowler who can seem innocuous as he runs in, but can easily run through sides. He already has a six-for in ODIs. And he is a big asset in the field. Sehwag fell to the latter quality today, as Perera hung on to an acrobatic return catch.There was not much swing in the air, but Perera bowled a difficult length, got bounce with his height, and managed some seam movement. Just enough to take Kohli’s and Raina’s edges.Perera is having a memorable 2012. He has won games with his batting and bowling, he was Player of the Series in the ODIs against Pakistan and he has shared the new ball in a Test. What has done the trick for him? Tips from Shaun Pollock, the former South Africa fast bowler and Mumbai Indians’ bowling coach.”I think he is a good learner but I will be correct if I say he has worked closely with Shaun Pollock on his action during the IPL time because he wasn’t playing much,” Jayawardene said. “Polly has given him some good tips with his action. Polly is a great bowler to discuss those kinds of things with. I think [it is] a great opportunity for him so with that and with fast-bowling coaches he has been working hard to get his pace, to get his accuracy.”Something that he lacked was accuracy in hitting the seam in that good area. He is a tall boy. If he can hit that good area he is always going to create opportunities so I think that’s been the change and at practices he is with the ball doing something or with the bat, batting nets, throw downs. He wants to learn so good to see young guys doing that.”Perera said Pollock had asked him to be more upright in his delivery stride so that he could put more force into his bowling and hit the seam with more control. As Jayawardene said, “The IPL sometimes does help some of the players.”

West Indies have released the out-of-form Darren Bravo from the squad for Friday’s second Twenty20 in Barbados and called in the Jamaica batsman Danza Hyatt

Brydon Coverdale29-Mar-2012

West Indies have released the out-of-form Darren Bravo from the squad for Friday’s second Twenty20 in Barbados and called in the Jamaica batsman Danza Hyatt. Bravo has been sent back to domestic cricket in the hope that he can find some form ahead of the three-Test series, and he will play for Trinidad & Tobago this weekend in the Regional Four-Day semi-final.Bravo has struggled against Australia, with scores of 4, 16, 0, 25 and three in the ODIs, followed by a scratchy 12 in the T20 loss in St Lucia on Tuesday. West Indies are desperate for him to be in peak form for the Test series, as he has been among their top two run scorers in every Test series he has played, and averages 52.50 in the format.The selectors’ decision will force a change at the top of the order for West Indies, who battled to score at a fast enough rate in the early stages of their innings on Tuesday and set Australia a target that proved too small. David Hussey, the Australia batsman, said the switch to Kensington Oval for the second game would create a very different challenge for Australia.”The conditions [in St Lucia] really suited our game,” Hussey told AAP. “We really hit the ground running with the ball, our fast bowlers in Brett Lee and James Pattinson up front really set the tone. We’ll get to Barbados, different wicket, different conditions and that might really bring the West Indies back into play.”The hosts will consider including the fast bowler Fidel Edwards, who is in the squad but was not selected for the first game. Edwards possesses the sort of pace that could challenge Australia’s batsmen if he finds the right line, and the West Indies vice-captain Dwayne Bravo said the structure of the attack would be considered by the selectors.”Obviously firepower will definitely help,” Bravo told reporters. “You look around anywhere in international cricket, teams that do well at T20 have at least one bowler that bowls at 145-plus.”West Indies were already without the allrounder Andre Russell, who missed the first game due to a minor strain to his right hamstring. Russell has also been ruled out of Friday’s T20.West Indies squad Dwayne Smith, Johnson Charles, Nkrumah Bonner, Danza Hyatt, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Sunil Narine, Fidel Edwards, Krishmar Santokie, Garey Mathurin.

علق محمد عبدالجليل نجم الأهلي السابق، على فوز الأحمر أمام أسوان في بطولة الدوري المصري، موضحًا أنه يتمنى عودة رمضان صبحي للقلعة الحمراء مرة آخرى.

وفاز الأهلي على أسوان بثلاثية نظيفة في المباراة التي أقيمت أمس الثلاثاء، على ملعب الأخير في بطولة الدوري المصري.

وقال عبدالجليل في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر فضائية ” ETC”: “الأهلي احترم أسوان في الملعب، ولاعبو الفريق قدموا مستوى جيدًا وعلى رأسهم حسين الشحات”.

وأضاف: “الشحات يسير بشكل جيد منذ شهرين، ومارسيل كولر مقتنع بقدرات اللاعب، وبالفعل هو أظهر قدرات جيدة وقدم مستوى مميزًا في الفترة الأخيرة، عكس الموسم الماضي”.

وأكمل: “أرى أن الأفضل مشاركة محمد أشرف في الفترة المقبلة من أجل إراحة علي معلول”.

طالع أيضًا.. سامي قمصان: مواجهة صن داونز أهم مباراة لنا.. وكهربا جاهز للمشاركة

وتطرق للحديث عن رمضان صبحي لاعب بيراميدز قائلًا: “رمضان صبحي يقدم موسم جيدًا مع بيراميدز أفضل من أي مستوى قدمه خلال وجوده في الأهلي، ولكنه سيظل بعيدًا عن اللعب أساسيًا مع المنتخب أو الظهور بشكل أكبر على الساحة”.

وزاد: “ولكن في النهاية أتمنى عودته مجددًا للنادي الأهلي في المستقبل، وأعلم أنه من الصعب أن يفكر الأحمر في ذلك، خاصة وأن النادي يسير على نفس مبادئه منذ سنوات”.

واختتم: “هناك لاعبون ندموا وحاولوا العودة، إلا أن مسئولي النادي رفضوا ومنهم عصام الحضري، لكن في النهاية أتمنى انتقال رمضان لنادي جماهيري كبير في المستقبل”.

Tillakaratne Dilshan says South Africa may be favourites, but his Sri Lanka side have self-belief that they can beat any side in any conditions

Firdose Moonda in Centurion 14-Dec-2011South Africa’s media have not gone as far as Martin Johnson did when he labelled England a team that “can’t bat, can’t bowl, can’t field,” but their sizing up of Sri Lanka has come close. From questioning whether the batsmen will be able to stand up, let alone score runs, on green pitches, to wondering if the bowlers will pose a threat at all, they clearly see Sri Lanka as small fries ahead of the upcoming series.The only thing that has escaped debate has been Sri Lanka’s fielding, and rightly so. During a four-hour practice session on Tuesday, Sri Lanka spent close to a quarter of their time on fielding drills. They took slip catches hit off the hardest of edges, ran madly for skied shots and one of them stood on one foot while the ball was lobbed to him, over and over again.It was a session that showed that Sri Lanka are not leaving anything to chance. They have come to South Africa knowing it will be tough and are ready to discover new methods to survive in a place that is, to almost all of them, entirely unknown. They are well aware that they are not expected to cause an upset but their desire to spring a few surprises has not dimmed.It’s worth remembering that this is a team that maintained a dominant home record for a period of time, in which they beat Australia, England and South Africa. Their away trips have not yielded similar success but Sri Lanka are convinced that the tide will turn, as it has for them in one-day cricket. Even though they are currently in a slump that has seen them stack up four Test defeats and ten draws since July last year, Tillakaratne Dilshan, their captain, believes the team is already getting better.”We made a few mistakes in the last series against Pakistan but we have discussed what went wrong. Everyone is looking forward to this series,” Dilshan said. “After losing the second Test against Pakistan, we came back very strongly in the last match and played good cricket.”Sri Lanka were hampered by rain as they pushed for a win against Pakistan in the third Test of their series in the UAE, played in Sharjah. They had Pakistan 87 for 4 chasing 255 when they ran out of time, and could not level the series. They suffered 1-0 defeats in their two series before that, in England and at home to Australia. This is arguably a tougher series than any of those three, but Dilshan hopes his depleted squad can rise to the occasion.He did seem slightly perturbed by the green nature of the pitch in Centurion, which is going to have bowlers more hopeful of wickets than when they see Chris Martin at the crease. “It looks good for the fast bowlers,” Dilshan said, in a tone that makes it a candidate for understatement of the year. “All the fast bowlers can really enjoy this wicket.”Instead of dwell on the problems the surface could pose to Sri Lanka’s batsmen, Dilshan preferred to talk about the possibilities it presents his inexperienced attack with. He accepted that South Africa have a threatening pace attack, but said his own pack were not far behind. “We also have a few young fast bowlers. Dilhara [Fernando] is experienced, [Chanaka] Welegedara has done really well for us. It will be good for the bowlers to take on this challenge.”He did not dwell on the injuries that have hit Sri Lanka’s squad, not even the one that may keep star batsman Kumar Sangakkara out of the first Test. Sangakkara batted in the nets on Wednesday and Dilshan said that could be key to taking a call on whether he plays.The two teams have not played each other in a Test since 2006 but Dilshan said that did not mean they did not know about each other. “Everyone has played everyone during the IPL. With technology everyone knows what everyone else is doing.”Some may think Sri Lanka have walked into a slaughter house, but they have converted quiet confidence into surprises before, and Dilshan seemed to mean it when he said his team were looking forward to the challenge. “There is self-belief that everyone can do their job for the team. Everyone says South Africa is the favourite but if we can play our brand of cricket we can beat any team in any conditions.”