Du Plessis clinches series for South Africa
Francois ‘Faf’ du Plessis made the top score and pulled off a
spectacular run out as South Africa clinched a series victory in the
third one-day international against World Cup finalists Sri Lanka at
Chevrolet Park here on Tuesday.
Mainly due to Du Plessis making 72 off 74 balls, South Africa were
four ahead of the Duckworth/Lewis par score when rain stopped play.
The home side were on 179 for five after 34 overs in reply to Sri
Lanka’s 266 for nine and the result gave South Africa a winning 3-0 lead
in the five-match series and extended the tourists poor run to six
successive one day defeats.
Run outs played a crucial role in both innings.
Sri Lanka made a competitive total but it might have been
considerably higher if their two star batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and
Mahela Jayawardene, had not been run out, both by direct hits. Upul
Tharanga (58) and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) put on 94 for Sri
Lanka’s first wicket.
Sangakkara, batting at number three, looked set to take full
advantage of the good start on an easy-paced pitch as he stroked his way
to 38 off 37 balls.
But Sangakkara fell to a superb piece of fielding by Du Plessis, who
dived far to his left at backward point to stop a cut by Dinesh
Chandimal, then hit the stumps at the batsman’s end with Sangakkara
stranded after the batsmen hesitated. AFP
SCORECARD
SRI LANKA
U. Tharanga c Ingram b Peterson 58
T. Dilshan c Steyn b Duminy 33
K. Sangakkara run out (Du Plessis) 38
D. Chandimal c Smith b M. Morkel 36
M. Jayawardene run out (Ingram) 15
Kulasekara b M. Morkel 40
A. Mathews c Petersen b Tsotsobe 15
K. Kulasekara run out (Tsotsobe) 19
L. Malinga b Steyn 02
R. Herath not out 01
EXTRAS (lb1, nb1, w7) 09
TOTAL (9 wkts, 50 overs) 266
Fall of wickets: 1-94 (Tharanga), 2-102 (Dilshan), 3-154 (Sangakkara),
4-183 (Jayawardene), 5-192 (Chandimal), 6-220 (Mathews), 7-259 (N.
Kulasekera), 8-262 (Malinga), 9-266 (K. Kulasekera)
Bowling: M. Morkel 9-0-65-2, Tsotsobe 10-0-40-1 (2w), Steyn 10-0-55-1
(1w), Duminy 5-0-26-1 (1w), A. Morkel 2-0-9-0 (1w), Peterson 10-0-45-1
(1nb, 1w), Du Plessis 4-0-25-0 (1w)
Did not bat: D. Prasad
SOUTH AFRICA
G. Smith b Malinga 02
A. Petersen lbw b Dilshan 17
C. Ingram b Malinga 13
F. du Plessis run out (Mathews) 72
J. Duminy run out (N. Kulasekera) 25
A de Villiers not out 39
A. Morkel not out 07
EXTRAS (lb2, w2) 04
TOTAL (5 wkts, 34 overs) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Smith), 2-29 (Ingram), 3-52 (Petersen), 4-113
(Duminy), 5-147 (Du Plessis)
Bowling: Malinga 5-1-20-2 (2w), N. Kulasekera 6-0-31-0, Prasad 5-0-38-0,
Herath 6-0-24-0, Dilshan 5-0-22-1, K. Kulasekera 3-0-21-0, Mathews
4-0-21-0 |
