South Africa vanquished Sri Lanka to register a 4 wicket win with one ball left. This match was played at Sharjah on 30th October. South Africa now have won 2 matches out of 3 with a NRR (Net Run Rate) of +0.210. With two matches left South Africa have got a serious chance to push their case forward.
South Africa had opted to bowl first. Quinton de Kock took a knee in support of BLM (Black Lives Matter) Movement. Earlier he had opted out of the match against West Indies.
South Africa were set a target of 143 runs which was tricky as the wicket was a bit tacky. Sri Lanka’s fielders were doing ruthless fielding as there were no easy singles. Dushmantha Chameera in the 4th over of the innings removed Quinton & Reeza Hendricks. Chameera was absolutely bowling thunder-bolts as the batters were amazed. In the power-play overs South Africa had scored 40 run for the loss of 2 wickets.
Skipper Temba Bavuma took care of the chase meticulously. At the end of 8th over South Africa were reduced to 49 runs for 3 wickets. Bavuma & Markram tried to put the run-chase back on track. The duo were involved in a partnership of 47 runs. In that partnership the focus was on to rotate the strike as spinners were getting a lot of help out from the pitch. On the last ball of 15th over Hasaranga bowled out Markram as Sri Lanka were right back.
In the last 5 overs South Africa required 47 runs to win. The task was not that arduous but it required calculative approach. In the 18th over Hasaranga got two back-to-back wickets on consecutive balls of Bavuma & Pretorius.
Hasaranga became the 3rd bowler to take a hat-trick in T20 World Cup; as earlier in 2007 Brett Lee had taken hat-trick against Bangladesh, Curtis Campher of Ireland in 2021 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers against Netherlands.
Bavuma played a hard-fought knock of a run a ball 46 runs. Hasaranga finished his spell with the figures of 3 for 20. In the last 2 over South Africa required 25 runs. The only hope for South Africa was David Miller whose companion was the speedster Kagiso Rabada. Chameera gave away 10 runs in the 19th over (*Rabada had hit one six which eased the pressure) as the target for final over was of 15 runs. Chameera finished with the figures of 2 for 27 as his express pace was too hot to handle
Lahiru Kumara was the bowler & he got pummeled by David Miller as he struck 2 humongous sixes. Lahiru Kumara’s error of pitching the ball in the arc costed Sri Lanka the match. Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowlers till the last over. Sri Lanka won’t be able to believe that how they lost the match but this is the cruelty of T20 World Cup. David Miller played a colossal cameo as he swung by the pendulum in South Africa’s favor.
Sri Lanka had got off to a decent start in the power-play overs. They managed to score 39 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Pathum Nissanka was looking in deft touch. The partnership between Pathum & Asalanka was looking scary. South Africa required something from the fielders & it happened. Rabada & de Kock (on the bowling of Keshav Maharaj) knocked out Asalanka by a turbulent piece of fielding. At that point the score was 61-2 in 9 overs.
Pathum stood tall where at one side all the other batters were transient. Pathum played a sturdy knock of 72 runs in 58 balls which included 6 fours & 3 sixes. Not a single batter scored 30 runs. Tabraiz Shamsi swindled the batters via his variations. His figures were notable as he took 3 wickets & gave away 17 runs. Dwaine Pretorius took 3 wickets in his 3 overs spell & gave away 17 runs. South Africa had bundled out Sri Lanka for 142 runs.
South Africa’s next match is against Bangladesh on 02nd November at Abu Dhabi. Bangladesh don’t have a promising record against South Africa. South Africa would look to seize that match with a good NRR as tense finishes aren’t that convincing.
Sri Lanka have lost 2 out of their 3 matches. They have a statistical chance to make it to Semis. Their next 2 matches are against England on 01st November at Sharjah & West Indies on 04th November at Abu Dhabi. If they defeat these two teams with a huge margin then only they can qualify. Sri Lanka should emphasize on the line up of bowlers, 3-4 batters must score 30+ runs as building a target requires a team effort & same applies to bowlers for defending.
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