Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sri Lanka hold nerve to win thriller at Jo’burg

It was a game of turning tables. In the first half. South Africa seemed confident of defending 312. Sri Lanka batted well to nearly seal the game but hiccups towards the end almost spoilt the chase. In the end, a massive slog sweep from new-comer Senenayake sealed the game for the Lankans in the final over by 2 wickets.

After a thrilling win in the 4th ODI, the momentum looked to be with Sri Lanka, having come back from behind. Dilshan won the toss yet again and this time, he chose to field, as they were good chasers and also due to the dimensions of the ground.

His trump card, Lasith Malinga, did not disappoint and got rid of Alviro Petersen in the 4th over. But then. the Proteas fought back with a series of partnerships. First, Smith and Faf du Plessis saw off the Quick Start Overs, helping the Proteas score 33/1 from it before Faf got out in the 18th over and the 60-run stand was broken.

Powerplay 2 yielded just 19/1 and Sri Lanka were doing well. But AB de Villiers and Smith then launched a stunning counter-attack as they took the Lankans to the cleaners. Powerplay 3 was taken early, in the 32nd over and it yielded 44 runs.

The real attack came after that as both batsmen tore the bowling apart. Smith eventually got out after reaching his first century in 36 games. The pair had added a mammoth 186 for the third wicket, which was the best third-wicket partnership for South Africa against Sri Lanka in ODIs.

de Villiers continued on his merry way and finished on an unbeaten 125, helping South Africa to post 312/4, as the hosts plundered 109/2 in the Extreme Performance Overs. Both Smith and de Villiers finished with an exact score of 125 but the skipper earned a better Batting Momentum of 209. The bowling was poor from the Lankans with Malinga picking up 2 wickets and a Bowling Efficiency of 89 but was very expensive.

Have a look at the scorecard.

In reply, the Sri Lankan openers went bang-bang right from the word go and raced to 57/0 in 7.1 overs. Rain then intervened and play was stopped for about a period of an hour. The game did resume after that but no overs were reduced in spite of the delay.

Tharanga was dismissed immediately after resumption and the Lankans were 72/1 at the end of the Quick Start Overs. The hosts continued to peg the Lankans back and that led to Dilshan’s dismissal as the visitors managed 34/1 in Powerplay 2.

Chandimal and Sangakkara continued the good work with a 56-run stand and when Chandimal was dismissed in the 30th over with 138 needed for victory, plenty rested on Sangakkara. He found an able partner in Lahiru Thirimanne and the duo batted superbly. Powerplay 3 was the platform for attack and they hammered 43 runs off those.

The runs kept on flowing and Sangakkara got to his century and was eventually dismissed in the 45th over, with just 38 needed for a victory. But the Lankans collapsed dramatically and it all went down to needing 6 runs off the final over with 4 wickets in hand.

AB de Villiers threw the ball to Robin Peterson who got rid of Kulasekara on the first ball and the set man Thirimanne on the third. More drama as new-comer Senanayake, who was sent ahead of Malinga, blocked the ball. However, with 5 needed from 2 balls, Senanayake slog swept the ball for a maximum to hand Sri Lanka a 2-wicket win.

Kumar Sangakkara top scored with 102 and finished with a Batting Momentum of 148, well supported by Thirimanne who scored 69 with the bat. Tow wickets apiece for Tsotsobe, Duminy, Parnell and Peterson with Parnell finishing with a Bowling Efficiency of 138.

Not much difference in the Castrol Indices, with South Africa finishing on a better value of 53 as compared to 52 of the Lankans in spite of losing the game. South Africa won the area of Batting Momentum while Sri Lanka bounced back in the Bowling Efficiency department. Quick Start Overs belonged to the Lankans while the tables turned during the Extreme Performance Overs. The optional Powerplays went in favour of the visitors.

Kumar Sangakkara was named the Man Of The Match and he finished with a value of 56 on the Castrol Index. The Man Of The Series was AB de Villiers who earned a value of 78 and was also the top performer.

By virtue of this win, the 3-match series ends 3-2 in South Africa’s favour. The hosts drop down to third place in the ICC ODI rankings with Sri Lanka on 4th.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

All-round Perera smashes Sri Lanka to a 5-wicket win

Thisara Perera, playing his first ODI of the series picked up 2 wickets to slow down South Africa’s innings and later on, blasted an unbeaten 69 from 44 balls to take the Lankans to a 5-wicket win in the 4th ODI.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, South Africa started off at a phenomenal rate with the openers Alviro Petersen and Graeme Smith going all guns blazing, amassing 63 runs in the Quick Start Overs. Powerplay 2 proved fruitful as well, with the hosts scoring 36 runs off it. Hence, AB took Powerplay 3 immediately where they went onto coagulate 41 runs with the loss of two wickets.

With AB de Villiers and JP Duminy on the crease with a 70 run stand, they looked to be sailing away to a 350 par score. Sri Lanka plunged well late in the innings picking up partnership breakers at crucial junctures to puncture the damage as at one stage the Proteas were poised at 242/3 at the end of 38 overs. With only 52 runs coming off for SA in the Extreme Performance Overs with three wickets scalped, Sri Lanka had a huge psychological advantage going into their run chase.

The key points to be witnessed in this innings were the finesse at which AB de Villiers scored off his boundaries and biggies at an outstanding strike rate. de Villiers was undoubtedly the show stopper with a breath-taking innings of 96 off 76 balls which included 8 fours and 3 sixes earning him a Batting Momentum of 160 points. Rangana Herath with an economical finish of 34 runs and two wickets off his 8 overs earned the Bowling Efficiency with 119.

Have a look at the scorecard.

In reply. the Lankans lost Tharanga early but it seemed as if it was Dilshan’s night.  The visitors ticked off 68 runs in the Quick Start Overs with Tharanga’s loss, the sole #####. The skipper made a well crafted 87 which also included stringing a 86 run partnership with the ex-skipper Sangakkara.

Dilshan finally came off his darkest of patches in his captaincy reign with  It all looked happy and gay for the Islanders as they went along with a blistering pace. Then the twisting tale turned to a new page.

Alviro Petersen took a virtuoso catch at the ropes to sign off Sangakkara for the day. Powerplay 2 did not yield much for the Lankans as they clocked 21 runs off the loss of Sanga. Chandimal, a promising harbinger in the SL ranks nudged around well dangerously to notch up his half-century before he got out at a nail-biting junction. It was all happening out there in Powerplay 2 when Thisara Perrera went berserk belting sixes at will and enabling the Lankans to amass 48 runs for no loss.

South Africa were made to look a house of comedy when they missed a golden run out chance of Perera, and dropped catches rubbed in more salt to their wounds. Also, Perera received a reprieve early on in the innings when he was trapped LBW by Parnell, only to get it no-balled via a referral. After a long time, the fielding has been a let down to them. The 52 stand between the former and Chandimal laid the bricks for a resounding victory.

Thisara Perera continued to bludgeon the bowlers, and swung back the match in his line of the court teeing off R Peterson for two biggies in two deliveries in an over which fetched 16 runs to Sri Lanka. For his swash-buckling 69, Thisara Perrera picked up the Batting Momentum with 136. For his crucial three wickets, Lonwabo Tsotsobe earned the Bowling Efficiency of 184.

Thisara Perrera sent the leather flying out off the ground with a club like shot to send the Proteas out of the match in a fitting style. The Extreme Performance Overs benefitted Sri Lanka as they amalgamated 58 runs off one wicket with steady heads on display.

In spite of the victory, both teams finished with an equal value of 52 on the Castrol Index. It was Sri Lanka who held the aces throughout the game but the Africans had their own in the Quick Start Overs and Powerplay 3.

Thisara Perera was named the Man Of The Match for his all-round show and finished with an overall Castrol Index of 68, which was also the best performance of the game. For South Africa, skipper AB de Villiers finished with a value of 62.

By virtue of this win, Sri Lanka manage to get a point on the scoreboard with the series reading 3-1 in favour of the hosts. Also, Sri Lanka move to 4th spot in the rankings.

The 5th ODI will be played at Johannesburg on Sunday, 22nd January, 2012 at 0800 GMT.