South Africa v Sri Lanka – 4th One Day International – Match Recap
South Africa 299 v Sri Lanka 304 - Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
On Friday, January 20, 2012 Sri Lanka registered their first win against hosts South Africa in the fourth One Day International (ODI) after winning the game by five wickets at De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley.
After losing the first three games of the series, it was imperative for Sri Lanka to grab a face-saving win against the Proteas.
South Africa, after winning the toss, chose to bat against an underperforming Sri Lankan bowling attack to post a mammoth tally and grab another victory in the series.
Openers, Alviro Petersen and Graeme Smith gave their side a commendable start as they hammered the Sri Lankan bowlers right from the word go, and dominated their opposition to prevent the Sri Lankans from making early inroads.
After giving an opening stand of 84 runs, it was time for Petersen to depart after playing an innings of 37 runs.
Smith was then joined by skipper, AB de Villiers, as the South Africans continued their batting onslaught.
The duo exhibited tremendous resolve as they incinerated the Sri Lankan bowling attack into bits and pieces.
With 171 runs on the board, South Africa while looking in a comfortable position lost the wicket of Smith, who walked back to the pavilion after playing an innings of 68 runs.
The sight of Smith’s back was a sign for Sri Lanka to make a comeback in the game as they grabbed their third wicket by dismissing Colin Ingram.
The demise of Ingram was a cause of concern for the Proteas, however, Jean-Paul Duminy prevented the Sri Lankans from doing further damage, as he stood defiant against the raging Sri Lankan bowlers.
The batsman hammered 36 runs as he played a vital role in helping his side amass 242 runs by the time of his wicket.
Sri Lanka then struck gold when they dismissed de Villiers, who lost his wicket after playing a stupendous knock of 96 runs. At the time of his demise, South Africa had piled 250 runs.
Later, the lower-batting order helped the hosts amass 299 runs at the end of their 50 overs.
From Sri Lanka, both Thisara Perera and Rangana Herath grabbed two wickets each.
Coming out to bat, Sri Lanka had a tough target to overcome and needed to give a batting performance of a lifetime to subdue the South Africans.
After losing opener, Upul Tharanga (6) with only 17 runs on the board, the Sri Lankan batsmen took charge of things and dominated the South African bowlers by keeping the scoreboard ticking, which kept the required run rate under control.
Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (87), Dinesh Chandimal (59) and Thisara Perera (69) played an important role by helping their side win the match in 48.4 overs for the loss of five wickets.
NLTC Perera was named as the Player of the Match for his is outstanding performance.
Tags: