South Africa dented Sri Lanka's hopes of reaching semifinal with a thumping nine-wicket victory over the Islanders at Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street today.
A 175-run unbeaten second-wicket partnership between Hashim Amla and skipper Faf du Plessis ensured a comfortable victory for the Proteas as they chased down Sri Lanka's below-par 203 in just 37.2 overs. Du plessis remained unbeaten on 96 off 103 balls while his partner Amla scored an unbeaten 105-ball 80.
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South Africa restrict Sri Lanka to 203
Sri Lanka were bundled out for a below-par 203 in 49.3 overs by South Africa at Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street today.
In their must win game today, Sri Lanka lost their skipper Dimuth Karunaratne in the very first bowl of the match when he clean bowled by South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada. After that Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando strung together a 67-run second-wicket stand before the latter was dismissed in the 10th over after scoring 30 off 29 balls. After that, there were no more big partnerships from the Lankans as they kept on losing wicket at regular intervals before finally being bundled out for a below-par 203 in 49.3 overs.
Sri Lanka stutter after Pretorius strikes
Sri Lanka started their innings on the wrong foot losing captain and opener Dimuth Karunaratne in the first delivery of the innings and it did not go much better for the Lankans as they slumped further in the middle overs.
Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando gave the Lankans a flying start after the early wicket but South Africa pegged them back with a flurry of wickets. Dwaine Pretorius bagged three wickets while Chris Morris bagged one after Kagiso Rabada’s first-ball strike as the Lankans reach 135 for five in 35 overs.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Jeevan Mendis are at the crease for Sri Lanka.
South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl first against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.
"It's a fresh pitch, so we'll be looking to use the seam movement early today," said Faf du Plessis.
"Win," was Faf's succinct response to what South Africa are hoping to get out of this game. "We're playing an extra batter today, hopefully that will free up the batters. We deserve everything that's come towards us," he says of criticism of the team, "but it's important to put that to one side and try to be the best cricketer you can be."
"It seems like a good wicket, and if we can put a score on the board the bowlers can do the rest," added Dimuth Karunaratne. "We want the experienced guys to stand up and take responsibility. We just want to win this match and go forward."
Sri Lanka aren't quite done with the business of this World Cup, and their focus is very much in the present. Their victory over England and England's subsequent defeat to Australia have opened up the qualification race, and Sri Lanka could still reach 12 points if they win all three of their remaining games, potentially with a little wriggle room in the top four. They may well need it, if their mercurial run through this tournament so far is anything to go by, and their coach wants the batsmen to step up after the bowlers have repeatedly bailed them out.
South Africa arrived in England desperate to succeed in this tournament, but after five defeats in seven games, they're out of contention for this World Cup. This match - and their final game against Australia - will present an opportunity to bid farewell, at least in this format, to JP Duminy and Imran Tahir, who are all set to retire from ODIs after the World Cup. They have pride (and jobs) on the line now and for the moment they are a team in limbo, with one foot in the past even as they eye the future.
Playing XIs:
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Dwaine Pretorius, 9 Chris Morris, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Jeevan Mendis, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Suranga Lakmal
More to follow....
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