Published: Aug 06, 2013, 10:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 06, 2013, 10:11 PM (IST)
Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 74 from just 51 deliveries © AFP (File Photo)
Aug 6, 2013
Tillakaratne Dilshan‘s 51-ball knock of 74 and Thisara Perera‘s late order surge helped Sri Lanka register a six-wicket win in the final T20 match against South Africa at Hambantota.
Chasing a challenging total of 163, the home side had a good start as openers Mahela Jayawardene and Dilshan started on a positive note. Dilshan, who returned for this game, went after Lonwabo Tsotsobe in the very first over, hitting him for one six and two fours. Jayawardene matched Dilshan in the next over by slamming three consecutive boundaries off Morne Morkel. With 28 from just two overs, the Sri Lankan openers set the tone for the chase.
The runs kept flowing as the duo added 62 runs in the first five overs. Wayne Parnell, who conceded 11 runs in his first over, got a much-needed breakthrough to get rid of Jayawardene in the sixth over. The former skipper fell for 33 from 16 balls.
AB de Villiers then brought on David Wiese who struck in the first over to get rid of Kushal Perera. In the 12th over, Dilshan brought up his half-century and kept the tempo high as Sri Lanka were chasing their first victory in the T20 series. However, another wicket fell in the following over when Imran Tahir got the better of Dinesh Chandimal. At this stage the home side were on 100 for three in 12.3 overs, still needing 64 from 45 deliveries. Wiese boosted South Africa’s chance of a cleansweep when he picked up his second wicket of the game to dismiss Angelo Mathews in the 16th over.
With 41 required from 27 deliveries, the situation was tailor-made for incoming batsman Thisara Perera. Dilshan scored one boundary in the following over from Morkel and left the strike to Perera with 27 needed from 18 deliveries. Parnell was brought back into the attack and Perera was in murderous mood as he snatched the game away from the visitors by taking 21 runs from the over.
Dilshan finished it in style with a six off the first delivery of next over to help Sri Lanka win by six wickets.
Brief scores:
South Africa 163 for 3 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 85, JP Duminy 51) lost to Sri Lanka 164 for 4 in 18.1 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 74, Mahela Jayawardene 33) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Tillakaratne Dilshan
Man of the Series: Jean-Paul Duminy
