Opener Hashim Amla struck an unbeaten 56 for South Africa in its
eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the last World Twenty20 Group 1 game
on Monday.
Amla hit five fours and one six off 52 balls as South
Africa scored 122-2 in 17.4 overs after winning the toss and dismissing
Sri Lanka for 120 in 19.3 overs.
Amla added 60 for the second wicket with captain Faf du Plessis (31) to help South Africa control the chase from early on.
South
Africa finished third in the group behind first-place West Indies and
England, which were already through to the semifinals.
Defending champion Sri Lanka finished the tournament with a solitary win over Afghanistan.
South
Africa had little problem in chasing the moderate total as Amla struck a
fifth half-century and called the shots in the company of his captain.
Du
Plessis scored three fours in his 36 balls but was trapped leg before
wicket by pace bowler Suranga Lakmal when he was batting fluently.
In
a game lacking lots of big shots, the crowd of more than 10,000 saw
A.B. de Villiers strike two sixes, including the winning smash over
mid-wicket off Lakmal's full toss.
"It's always tough when you are
playing South Africa," said Sri Lanka's stand-in skipper Dinesh
Chandimal. "Batting has let us down in this tournament."
Earlier, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien and Aaron Phangiso grabbed two wickets to restrict Sri Lanka.
Left-arm spinner Phangiso produced a twin-strike in the fifth over after which Sri Lanka failed to get partnerships going.
Opener
Tillkaratne Dilshan, who had smashed an unbeaten 83 in Sri Lanka's win
against Afghanistan, scored 36 off 40 with four fours and one six.
He
added 45 runs for the first wicket with Chandimal, who led the side
after Angelo Mathews pulled out due to a hamstring injury suffered
during his fighting knock of 73 not out against England.
Chandimal
was bowled with a straighter delivery from Phangiso for 21 and
left-hander Lahiru Thirimanne was bowled first ball with one that came
in sharply.
Behardien then dismissed Shehan Jayasuriya (1) and
Dilshan, while Abbott came on to take two late wickets and ensure there
was no fightback from the tail-enders.
"It was a great pitch, the
ball was stopping and turning," said man-of-the-match Phangiso. "It's
been a bit tough. We prepared well coming from home and I think we just
needed luck on our side."Source:today news
0 comments:
Post a Comment