The 3rd match of the ICC Champions Trophy featured South Africa taking on Sri Lanka at the Oval, London. South Africa were deemed as the favourites to win and that is exactly what transpired in the match. The might of the Proteas proved to be too much for the Lankans.
South Africa were asked to bat first after Sri Lanka won the toss. Hashim Amla notched up a wonderful century and combined beautifully with Faf du Plessis who scored a half-century. They two propelled the Proteas to a competitive total of 299/6 at the end of 50 overs.
The Sri Lankan openers began with aggression and went after the fast bowlers with some success. They raced away to 69 in the 9th over and looked like running away with the game. Even after Niroshan Dickwella’s departure, they were in control. But the skipper of South Africa, de Villiers pulled off a moment of magic in the outfield to turn the game on its head.
The Turning Point
The stand-in captain Upul Tharanga was batting superbly and had started constructing a useful partnership with Kusal Mendis. The duo had added 25 runs for the 2nd wicket as Sri Lanka’s score moved to 94/1 in the 12th over.
Mendis was facing up to Chris Morris on the 5th delivery of the 12th over. He flicked a straight delivery uppishly towards mid-on where de Villiers was positioned. The Protea timed his jump to perfection and pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to send Mendis packing for 11.
Watch AB’s stunner here.
Dinesh Chandimal then walked in added 22 runs with Tharanga. But it was Superman AB once more who cut short the stand. In the 18th over, Chandimal pushed one towards extra cover where de Villiers stopped the ball, dived and then threw off-balance to dislodge the bails at the non-striker’s end and dismiss the batsman for 12.
How the game panned out
Initially, during South Africa’s innings, the openers Quinton de Kock and Amla began cautiously. Due to the early start, there was a bit of movement available for the pacers and the batsmen showed them due respect, scoring just 32 runs from the first 10 overs.
As de Kock tried to break the shackles, he lost his wicket in the 13th over to Nuwan Pradeep. Amla was joined by du Plessis and the duo began to rebuild the innings. Amla had his eye in by the 19th over and soon began to cut loose.
The partnership for the 2nd wicket began to flourish as both the batsmen brought up their half-centuries. du Plessis was dismissed in the 34th over for 75 off 70 balls courtesy Pradeep who scalped his second wicket. Amla went on to notch up a classy hundred but soon fell for 103 off 115 balls.
Extra Cover: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Sri Lanka vs South Africa, 5 things Sri Lanka did wrong
De Villiers couldn’t do a lot with the bat and mustered only four runs. Late cameos from JP Duminy and Chris Morris propelled them to a score of 299/6 at the end of the innings.
In reply, the Sri Lankan openers went hammer and tongs from the outset. Dickwella was the aggressor initally and played some magnificent shots. Tharanga joined in the act and the duo shared a half-century partnership.
Just when they looked like taking the game away, Morne Morkel struck in his first over, accounting for the dangerous Dickwella. Tharanga found an able partner in Kusal Mendis but some outstanding work by de Villiers in the field proved to be the turning point as he was involved in the dismissals of Mendis and then Chandimal.
Imran Tahir bowled an excellent spell and kept the Sri Lankans at bay. Tharanga, after getting to his 50, fell to the leg-spinner and Chamara Kapugedera was dismissed soon after for a duck. Tahir removed Asela Gunaratne to put the final nail in the coffin.
Kusal Perera fought a lone battle and scored an unbeaten 44 off 66 balls. But he was left stranded as the batsmen kept getting out at the other end. Ultimately, they were bowled out for 203, falling 96 runs short of the target.
At the end, it was the South African skipper’s brilliance in the field that proved to be the difference between the two sides.
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