South Africa Prevail In Last Over Finish Against Sri Lanka

South Africa 188-5 (De Kock 66) beat
Sri Lanka 279-7 (Dilshan 100) by 5 wickets (D/L)
World Cup warm-up game, Christchurch

In a rain-affected World Cup warm-up game, South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the final over at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Chasing a revised target of 188 from 25 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method, South Africa got home with three balls to spare.

Needing 18 runs from the last two overs, Vernon Philander (13 not out) and Rilee Rossouw (16 not out) managed 14 off the penultimate over by Nuwan Kulasekara (1-18) to take their team through.

Earlier in the day after being put into bat, Sri Lanka were powered by a superb knock from Tillakaratne Dilshan (100) after having lost Lahiru Thirimanne (1) early in the innings.

Kumar Sangakkara (31) joined Dilshan to put the innings on track with a solid 76-run partnership for the second wicket before the former departed to Imran Tahir (1-46).

Dilshan, who had a superb series with the bat against New Zealand recently, continued his good form with a finely crafted century off just 83 balls, laced with 15 fours and two sixes.

The opening batsman became one of Kyle Abbott’s (3-37) three victims, but Dimuth Karunaratne (46) and skipper Angelo Mathews (58) ensured that Sri Lanka did not lose their way with a 60-run partnership.

Sri Lanka were 279 for seven from 44.4 overs before heavy rain lashed the ground, stopping play for a few hours.

For South Africa, Abbott was impressive along with Philander (1-24) who bowled an economical spell to stem the run-flow.

Chasing a stiff revised target, Hashim Amla (46) and Quinton De Kock (66) put South Africa on course with an opening partnership of 116 runs.

De Kock was the aggressor with six fours and two sixes in his 55-ball innings before Rangana Herath (3-22) struck twice removing both the openers.

Herath, who bowled a wonderful spell, also removed Jean-Paul Duminy (17) while Kulasekara accounted for David Miller (4) to bring Sri Lanka back into the game.

Lasith Malinga (1-33) then got rid of Faf Du Plessis (19) to put South Africa in a spot of bother but Rossouw and Philander held their nerve to clinch victory.

Both teams will round off their World Cup preparations on 11th February as South Africa take on New Zealand while Sri Lanka will face Zimbabwe.

© Cricket World 2015