Sri Lanka exposed the Proteas’ long-standing batting issues against spin to pull off victory in the low-scoring ODI series decider in Colombo this Tuesday.
Chasing a score of 204, the visitors collapsed to just 125 in the space of 30 overs to hand the hosts a win by a heavy margin of 78 runs at the R Premadasa stadium.
Off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana made a great impact in his very first outing at the international stage, taking 4/37 from his 10 overs. Pacer Dushmantha Chameera (2/16) and incisive spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (2/32) shared two wickets apiece and ensured there was never any let-off for the South African batters.
22 from Heinrich Klaasen was the top score by a Proteas batter on the night. In a disappointing batting display, only four other visiting batsmen managed to reach double digits. Opening batsman Janneman Malan and No.8 George Linde were the second-highest individual scorers despite making only 18 runs each.
It was a win to savour for the Sri Lankans, who had lost the ODI series earlier to India and were precariously placed in the ICC Super League before taking on SA.
The victory gave them much-needed 10 points – and 20 for the series – to make their task of direct World Cup qualification a touch less strenuous. The equation is exactly the opposite for the South Africans, who have now lost five and won just three of their nine Super League games so far, including a draw.
Earlier in the day, South African spinners tightened up the screws on Sri Lankan batters and triggered their downfall. Keshav Maharaj (3/38), George Linde (2/32) and Tabraiz Shamsi (2/31) shared seven wickets between them to help their team restrict the opposition to just 203/9.
The Sri Lankan total would’ve been much lesser if not for useful contributions from Charith Asalanka (47), Dhananjaya de Silva (31) and tailender Chameera (29).
Brief scores
Sri Lanka 203/9 in 50 overs (Asalanka 47, de Silva 31; Maharaj 3/38, Linde 2/32) beat South Africa 125 in 30 overs (Klaasen 22, Malan 18; Theekshana 4/37, Chameera 2/16) by 78 runs
