SHARJAH: Super 12s – South Africa won by 4 wickets against Sri Lanka after Miller hit Lahiru Kumara out of the park twice in the last over to keep their WC semifinal dreams alive.
Sri Lanka was invited to bat first by South Africa scored 142 off 20 overs. Pathum Nissanka contributed to half of the score and continued to justify his existence in the T20 team with brilliant batting to score 72 runs off 58 balls. Charith Asalanka batted well for 21 runs off 14 balls before he was run out trying to take an unnecessary run. The rest of the 8 batsmen could only put together 49 runs, and SL was bowled out for 142 runs. Middle order slump continues to haunt Sri Lanka. Tabraiz Shamsi depicted why he is the top bowler by tightening the screws on Sri Lanka and picking 3 wickets.
Dushmantha Chameera picked up 2 quick wickets in the 3rd over to put South Africa in the backfoot in their chase. After Van Dassen was run out by Dasun Chanaka South Africa was in trouble at 49 for 3 wickets in the 7th over. South African Captain Bavuma held his ground and went on to score a resilient 46 runs to get SA closer to the total. Wanindu Hasaranga once again tilted the game towards Sri Lanka with a hat trick (3 for 20 runs) picking up Bavuma , Pretorius and Markram. Miller at the crease with Rabada put together a valuable partnership of 34 runs to navigate South Africa to a nail-biting win by 4 wickets with a ball to spare. Last over bowled by Lahiru Kumara was hit for two sixers by Miller to grab the victory and the vital 2 points. Sri Lankans had many star performers Pathum Nissanka with the bat (72 runs), Dushmantha Chameera with lethal bowling at the top (2 for 27 runs) and Wanindu Hasaranga’s hat trick to give Sri Lanka hope. However still was not able secure a win and this is the second consecutive loss for Sri Lanka. This loss to South Africa is heart breaking for SL since Sri Lanka’s semifinal dream now seems distant.
South Africa now with 4 points are at 3rd position while Sri Lanka is at 4th position with 2 points. Group 1 is led by England and Australia is at 2nd position.
Tabraiz Shamsi’s 3 wicket haul for 17 runs won him the player of the match award. (RZ)
[Image credit icc-cricket.com]
