World Of Cricket

Kimberly: Sri Lanka at last defeated South Africa in a high scoring game by 5 wickets. Skipper Dilshan showed some signs of coming back into form by scoring 87 runs.

Thisara Perera was named Man of the Match © Gallo Images

Having lost the three previous matches of the series, the visitors were staring at an embarrassing end to their tour of South Africa.

But they belatedly sprung to life in Kimberley, overhauling South Africa’s tricky total of 299 with eight balls remaining.

Batting first, the hosts began positively after a first-wicket partnership of 84 between Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen.

The latter’s exit did not seem to upset the Proteas, who moved to 171 before Lasith Malinga had Smith caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Regular wickets from the 38th over stymied South Africa’s attempts to build a bigger score, but AB de Villiers’ 96 looked to have spurred his side on to a defendable total.

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That looked on track when Lonwabo Tsotsobe claimed the scalp of Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga in the third over, but Kumar Sangakkara combined with Dilshan to steady the innings.

Dilshan reached 87 before his removal at 168 in the 28th over, with the likes of Dinesh Chandimal (59) and Thisara Perera (69) driving Sri Lanka towards their total.

Tsotsobe finished with 3-51 but could not halt his opponents, who reached their target thanks to Perera’s six off the bowling of JP Duminy in the 48th over – ensuring Sri Lanka claimed the highest score at De Beers Diamond Oval in the process.

Sri Lanka will look to add further respectability in the fifth and final match of the series, on Saturday (local time).

Courtesy: Cricket Australia

Result: Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka).

Bloemfontein: South Africa finally got on the right end of a Duckworth/Lewis decision when they beat Sri Lanka by four runs in a rain-shortened match at Chevrolet Park on Tuesday evening.

Faf du Plessis acknowledges applause for his half-century © Getty Images

Courtesy: Cricket South Africa

Play was halted as it turned out permanently at the end of the 34th over at which stage the home side had scored 179/5 as opposed to the 175 runs required by the D/L method.

The result gave the Proteas a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match Sunfoil ODI series. It was a cruel way for Sri Lanka to lose the series but there weren’t be any tears from coach Gary Kirsten and senior player Graeme Smith who were both part of the South Africa’ squad to be knocked out of the 2003 World Cup by Sri Lanka under the same system.

One suspects that what will have pleased the South Africa’s coaches and the national selectors more than the actual result was the opportunity it has given junior players the opportunity to show they can handle the pressure of winning matches in the absence of established stars such as Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis.

Man of the Match Faf du Plessis certainly took advantage of that opportunity. He became the third player in as many matches to be given the No. 4 batting slot after AB de Villiers at Paarl and JP Duminy at Buffalo Park. He came to the crease with the Proteas an unhealthy 29/2 and handled a difficult situation extremely well.

When he was run out for 72 (74 balls, 7 fours) he had the South Africa in a position from which they could win the match and his dismissal was more the result of an attack of cramp rather than any fault of his own. He looked well set for a maiden international century but in the end had to settle for a career best.

Whether the South Africa would have won the match had it gone the full distance is a matter of conjecture. De Villiers and Albie Morkel seemed fully in control of a situation that required a rate of less than a run a ball.

Sri Lanka on the other hand will point out that they were one wicket away from getting into the Proteas’ lower order and that their key wicket taker, Lasith Malinga, had only bowled half of his allotment of overs.

A notable feature of the match was that four batsmen (two on each side) were run out – three of them by direct hits and they were all key wickets – Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene for Sri Lanka and Du Plessis and JP Duminy for the South Africa.

In the end Sri Lanka will be rueing the fact that so many of their batsmen got starts but nobody could bat longer than Upul Tharanga who made 58 off 65 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Had one of their batsmen managed to carry through for a longer period then they could well have set a target in the region of 280 to 300 rather than the 266 which looked a bit shy of par at the halfway stage.

The match marked 50 ODI appearances for both Morne Morkel and Robbie Peterson but more important was De Villiers’ series win at the first attempt.

Result: South Africa won by 4 runs (D/L method).

Man Of The Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa).

Paarl: South Africa crushed Sri Lanka by big margin of 258 runs. Sri Lanka was dismissed for 43 runs while chasing 302, in the first ODI against South Africa.

Morne Morkel's is thrilled after dismissing Angelo Mathews © Getty Images

Hosts South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first, where they posted 301 -8 in 50 overs. Sri Lanka only scored 43 runs in 20.1 overs as South Africa beat them by the margin of 258 runs which is 3rd best margin victory in ODI history.  Sri Lanka 43 is 4th lowest  ODI score ever, the previous 3 lowest scores were against Sri Lanka.

Hashim Amla hit eight fours in his 112 runs off 128 deliveries during his ninth ODI hundred. Amla also shared a 144-run partnership with Jacques Kallis  who scored 72  and a 91-run stand with AB de Villiers who scored 52.

Malinga was outstanding bowler for Sri Lanka as he took his 5th ODI 5 wicket haul in this match and because of his brilliant second spell South Africa only scored 60 runs with the loss of 6 wickets in the last 10 overs of their innings.

Morne Morkel took 4-10 and Lonwabo Tsotsobe 3-19 to rip through Sri Lanka’s lineup. In first 5 overs of the Sri Lanka innings they were 9-5 both of their openers were out for duck. Albie Morkel made his comeback after a break of 13 months, he today scored 25 runs including 2 SIXES against Sri Lanka.

Dream start for AB de Villiers as a captain, he himself scored 52 runs and managed to use his bowlers quite well.

The 2nd ODI of this series will be played at East London on January 14, 2012. It’ll start at 10:00 (local), 08:00 (GMT), 11:00 (AST).

Result: South Africa won by 258 runs.

Man Of The Match: Morne Morkel (South Africa).

Comments from both captains and man of the match:

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Captain of Sri Lanka) :  “The key was the first five overs. They bowled really good lines and it was very difficult to come back. We bowled well in the last few overs and came back a bit but unfortunately our batsmen couldn’t put runs. Malinga is one of the best in the business and it is great to have him in the team. We don’t have much time between the games and will be travelling tomorrow, hope to do better in the next match.”

AB de Villiers (Captain of South Africa) :  ”Dream start for me as captain. Some individuals stoop up there – Morne Morkel and Amla. I thought there was something in the pitch for the bowlers and we used it. Guys running in and bowling at 140+ was good.”

Morne Morkel (Man of the Match) : ”Slow start for me this summer, but it was important to work through the tough periods. Luckily, I had the help of our support staff and could work through that. Lopsy has been unbelievable in the last couple of years and it was great to have him at the other end. Lots of energy from Steyn too, coming in first change.”