Published: Feb 02, 2017, 01:05 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 02, 2017, 01:05 AM (IST)
Centuries by Faf du Plessis and David Miller and a collective bowling effort saw South Africa win the second One-Day International (ODI) of the five-match series against Sri Lanka by 121 runs. The hosts, who had played a tie with the same opposition on this ground in their only previous encounter and bowed out of the World Cup 2003 in a tragic manner, finally exorcised the ghosts. Their two champion batsmen first got them to a total which was beyond Sri Lanka’s reach and then their bowlers completed the formalities by completing the win. South Africa are now 2-0 up in the series. Full Cricket Scorecard, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI at Durban.
Chasing 308, Sri Lankan openers started well, adding 45 runs for the first wicket. But once the South Africans got the first breakthrough, they kept striking at regular intervals. Niroshan Dickwella, player of the series during Sri Lanka’s victorious campaign in T20Is, started off well by getting a few boundaries. He got a life when Andile Phehlukwayo dropped a sitter offered by him at midwicket. He however eventually fell to a blinder of a catch by du Plessis at covers, which sent him packing. He tried to hit a slower-ball bowled by Wayne Parnell over the fielder at cover but fell to a brilliant one-handed catch by du Plessis above his head.
Soon Upul Tharanga, who had an uncomfortable stay in the middle with balls striking his helmet, was also sent back, courtesy AB de Villiers’ spectacular catch while running behind. After the two successive losses, Sri Lanka did not quite recover. Their batsmen kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were guilty of not converting their starts into big scores; as their top-order batsmen got runs in 20s and 30s but not a single batsman went on to score a fifty. Dinesh Chandimal was the top-scorer with 36.
For South Africa, all the bowlers did their job. De Villiers used six bowlers and all were among the wickets. Parnell, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy picked up two wickets each while Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris and Phehlukwayo took a wicket apiece.
Another significant feature of South Africa’s victory was their brilliant fielding. Their fielders took sharp catches as well as did not miss any run-out opportunity too. Fielding, hence, was also an important differentiator between the two sides.
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Earlier, Tharanga won the toss and opted to field first on a slow track, which surprised many. It was a bat-first pitch, which was expected to get slower as the game progressed. With as many as five spinners in the side, Tharanga could have opted to bat first and ensured a good total on the board, and then backed his spinners to defend it. More so because chasing under the lights would have been difficult. He thus, surrendered the advantage to the hosts. But nonetheless, his bowlers vindicated his decision as Suranga Lakmal got Hashim Amla early. Amla, who looked good early on, was trapped in front of the stumps. So sure was he of his feet position that he did not go for a review.
Soon Quinton de Kock, de Villiers and Duminy fell, which brought du Plessis and Miller in the middle, who from there on controlled the innings. Both the batsmen played cautiously early on and avoided any risk. They were also helped by the Sri Lankan fielders, who dropped a few catches and allowed them to go on.
Du Plessis and Miller then stitched a 117-run stand for the fifth wicket. The hallmark of their partnership was that the duo never let the run rate drop. They manipulated the field well to find gaps and take singles to keep the scorecard ticking. Such was the ease they scored runs at that it did not strike when du Plessis brought up his fifty. Miller, once set, started playing his shots. Once the score went past 200, the duo started playing their shots.
Du Plessis completed his seventh ODI hundred and perished soon after trying to accelerate. He had done his job by then. Morris then added 60 runs off 40 balls with Miller for the sixth wicket, taking South Africa closer to the 300-run mark. Miller got to his fourth ODI hundred — second at Durban in consecutive game — and remained unbeaten on 117 by taking his team to 307; a total well beyond the par score.
The third ODI of the series, which is going to be a ‘Pink Day’ game (with the hosts wearing their pink jersey), shall be played at Johannesburg on Saturday. Remember what de Villiers did to the West Indies in that jersey in 2015?
Brief Scores:
South Africa 307 for 6 in 50 overs (David Miller 117*, Faf du Plessis 105; Suranga Lakmal 2 for 54) beat Sri Lanka 186 all-out in 37.5 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 36; Imran Tahir 2 for 26, JP Duminy 2 for 30, Wayne Parnell 2 for 34) by 121 runs.
