Pakistan, March 16 -- They have won the first four games so easily that South Africa might now be thinking whether they can really read that much into these results against Sri Lanka. So weak has their opposition been that it is hardly the pre-World Cup priming that South Africa would have yearned for. Only occasionally have Sri Lanka put South Africa under pressure with the ball, while Sri Lanka's batting has been consistently brittle - no more so than on Wednesday, when only a No. 9's 78 prevented them from crashing to a truly embarrassing score.

So what can the hosts gain from this deadest of rubbers? South Africa opener Reeza Hendricks, who could get one final chance at the top of the order, needs some big runs to assert his World Cu...