Dubai: The world's top two Test bowlers in the LG ICC Player Rankings, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini, are set to go head-to-head during the two-Test series between Sri Lanka and South Africa beginning at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo on Friday.
Muralitharan currently tops the bowling list and the two-match series gives him the chance to extend his advantage and also reduce the gap of 50 wickets between himself and leading Test wicket-taker Shane Warne.
But pace bowler Ntini, rested and raring to go after a break following an outstanding 2005/06 season, is breathing down Muralitharan's neck at the top of the rankings.
And if the South African can repeat the form that brought him 48 wickets in just eight Tests in 2005/06 then he has every chance of not only closing in on top spot but also helping his depleted side to a famous series win.
That, of course, will be easier said than done as South Africa is without its regular captain Graeme Smith and vice-captain Jacques Kallis, both injured, as well as all-rounder Shaun Pollock, who is missing the first Test after the birth of his second child.
How much of a hole that trio leaves is clearly illustrated by the LG ICC Player Rankings as Kallis (fourth) and Smith (18th) are South Africa's only batsmen inside the top 20, while Pollock lies 12th in the bowling list and third in the all-rounder table, a table topped by Kallis.
In their absence, Herschelle Gibbs is the side's highest ranked batsman, in joint 25th place alongside injured England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
Below Gibbs come AB de Villiers (33rd), acting captain Ashwell Prince (37th) and Jacques Rudolph (60th) and all three will have to perform exceptionally well to fill the vacuum left by Smith and Kallis.
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The batting list is currently headed by Australia's Ricky Ponting, followed by India's Rahul Dravid and Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan.
Ntini is joined in the bowling top 20 by team-mate Andre Nel (14th) while, below that duo comes spinner Nicky Boje (41st).
South Africa's absentees will no doubt help Sri Lanka feel confident ahead of this series but the home side has other reasons to be upbeat.
It comes into the matches off the back of a successful tour of England and the Netherlands where, despite the absence of captain Marvan Atapattu with a back injury, it drew the Test series 1-1 and won all the seven ODIs it played.
With Atapattu still sidelined, Sri Lanka will once again be led by Mahela Jayawardene, one of two players in the line-up in the top 20 of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.
Jayawardene lies 19th in that list while Sri Lanka's highest ranked batsman is Kumar Sangakkara in 11th spot. Below that duo come Tillakaratne Dilshan (23rd), the rejuvenated Sanath Jayasuriya (38th) and Atapattu (39th).
Muralitharan is joined in the bowling top 10 by evergreen seam and swing bowler Chaminda Vaas, joint 10th in the list alongside the West Indies' Corey Collymore.
The two sides are also battling for fifth place in the LG ICC Test Championship table with Sri Lanka currently holding that spot.
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