CWC 2019 Recap: South Africa ease past Sri Lanka, albeit a bit too late

A Cricket World series, CWC 2019 Recap looks at all the high-octane encounters from the last year's ODI World Cup: from Jofra Archer's bouncers to Rohit Sharma's hundreds and from Mitchell Starc's yorkers to Virat Kohli's antics.

Match Summary

Sri Lanka 203(49.3 Overs) - Kusal Perera30 (34), Avishka Fernando30 (29); Dwaine Pretorius3/25 (10), Chris Morris3/46 (9.3)

South Africa 206/1(37.2 Overs) - Hashim Amla*80 (105), Faf Du Plessis*96 (103); Lasith Malinga1/47 (10), Dhananjaya De Silva0/18 (4)

Result - South Africa won by 9 wickets (with 76 balls remaining)

Scorecard

South Africa were eliminated by Pakistan in their last game. The pressure of the competition having been lifted from their shoulders, the Proteas played in a free spirited manner and easily beat Sri Lanka.

The Lankans had to win this game to keep their journey to the semis alive, but South Africa, who have often been at the receiving end of somebody spoiling their party close to the final, themselves set back Sri Lanka's semi-final hopes.

Dwaine Pretorius (3/25) and Chris Morris (3/46) first bowled out Sri Lanka for 203, following which, the record partnership between Hashim Amla (80*) and Faf Du Plessis (96*) took them to victory with more than 12 overs remaining. For his three wickets and a brilliant economy of 2.50, Pretorius won the Man of the Match award.

The unbeaten 175-run stand between Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis was the second-highest second wicket stand for South Africa in World Cups. du Plessis' knock was also the third-highest score by a South African captain in World Cups.

Sri Lanka v South Africa -  ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Chester le Street, 28th June 10:30AM, live cricket streaming action and social media match updates #CWC19