Published: Jan 21, 2017, 01:59 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 21, 2017, 03:44 AM (IST)
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in a rain-marred first T20I at Centurion to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. Sri Lanka scored a couple of boundaries of debutant Lungi Ngidi’s first over to get their chase underway, both coming off the bat of Dhananjaya de Silva. Wayne Parenll was handed the ball in the second over. Niroshan Dickwella smashed three continuous boundaries of that over to help Sri Lanka’s cause. De Silva got a lucky break after he was dropped by the mid on fielder running backwards. At the end of the second over Sri Lanka were 24 for no loss, still 103 runs away from victory.
Andile Phehlukwayo on his T20I debut got scooped over fine leg for a six by Dickwella off his very first delivery. Phehlukwayo went for 16 from his first over and Sri Lanka in the powerplay had scored 40 and also had not lost a single wicket. Imran Tahir then came on and bowled a very tight over until he gave away a six off his final delivery. His over yielded Sri Lanka 9 runs. The visitors needed 78 to win from their final 6 overs at that stage. Sri Lanka brought up their 50 in just 26 deliveries and kept themselves in this match as left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso gave away 10 runs, which included a couple of boundaries. Dickwella was approaching a well deserved fifty.
Full Cricket Scorecard: South Africa vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I at Centurion
South Africa finally got a breakthrough as Tahir removed Dickwella for 19-ball 44. Sri Lanka needed 68 off 29 at that stage. That did not deter de Silva from taking on Tahir. He immediately danced down the track and dispatched it over Tahir’s head. He hit another six off the very next delivery, this time over long off. Skipper Angelo Mathews promoted himself to No. 3 and got off the mark with a single immediately. But Tahir removed the other opener de Silva and had brought South Africa right back in this game. Sri Lanka still needed 54 off 24 with two new batsmen at the crease.
Debutant Thikshila de Silva tried to pull Phangiso over the mid-wicket fence but was caught at the boundary on his very first ball. Sri Lanka had lost 3 wickets in a span of 8 deliveries and were staring down the barrel at that stage. But Sri Lanka did not give up yet as new batsman Seekkuge Prasanna smashed his first delivery for a huge six. Prasanna cleared the fence with ease once again as he went over long on this time. Sri Lanka needed 40 from 18.
Full Cricket Updates: South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I at Centurion
Ngidi came back to bowl his second over getting rid of Prasanna caught behind. Things got better for South Africa as new batsman Kusal Mendis, looking to clear deep square leg was caught at the boundary, courtesy of some excellent team work from Heino Kuhn and Tahir at the fence. Sri Lanka needed 36 from 12.
Mathews’ strange 8-ball innings came to an end after he failed to connect a juicy full toss from Parnell. At a time when sixes and fours were the call of the hour, Mathews’ innings just yielded 6 runs. Asela Gunaratne kept Sri Lanka in hunt dispatching Parnell for a six over deep mid-wicket. Sri Lanka had brought up their 100 in 9 overs and as a result needed 27 from the final over.
Phehlukwayo bowled the final over. He gave away just 7 runs in the final over and handed South Africa a huge win.
Earlier, South Africa had put on 126 for 5 from their 10 overs courtesy of some powerful hitting from David Miller and Farhaan Behardien. Nuwan Kulasekara was Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler with 2 wickets. Miller scored 18-ball 40, while Behardien was unbeaten on 31 off 18. The duo added 51 off just 24 deliveries for the fourth wicket to help South Africa to a match-winning total after they were put into bat by Sri Lanka.
Brief Scores:
South Africa 126 for 5 in 10 overs (David Miller 40, Farhaan Behardien 30*; Nuwan Kulasekara 2 for 27, Seekkuge Prasanna 1 for 14) beat Sri Lanka 107 for 6 in 10 overs (Niroshan Dickwella 43, Dhananjaya de Silva 27; Lungisani Ngidi 2 for 12, Imran Tahir 2 for 23) by 19 runs
Man of the match: Lungi Ngidi
