Proteas knuckle down for victory
De Kock batters shoddy Lankans
Loftus Stadium on Saturday.
“We won the league, but now we have to put that at the back of our heads and get ready for the new season.
“We are going to face Chiefs to do what we have been doing throughout pre-season.” Sundowns v Chiefs, Loftus Stadium, 3pm
Wits v FS Stars, Bidvest Stadium, 6pm
CPT City v SuperSport, Cape Town Stadium, 6pm; Leopards v Polokwane, Peter Mokaba Stadium, 6pm
Pirates v Highlands Park, Orlando Stadium, 8.15pm AmaZulu v Baroka, King Zwelithini , 8.15pm
Maritzburg v Arrows, Harry Gwala
Celtic v Chippa, Dr Molemela Andile Phehlukwayo’s knuckle ball. Quinton de Kock’s drive. Sri Lanka’s fielding. That’s all you need to know if you’re pushed for time to find out how South Africa beat Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday. Another win in Kandy on Sunday would give the visitors the series with two games left to play, a remarkable turnaround given how emphatically the home side won both Tests.
The knuckle ball earned Phehlukwayo only one wicket in his haul of 3/45, but he made good use of the nonspinning, dipping delivery to trouble all who faced him. Seven of De Kock’s 13 fours were sumptuous drives and he also hit a six in his 78-ball 87 – his first half-century in eight Test and one-day innings and a convincing return to form. He looked well on his way to a century when he shoved a delivery from seamer Kasun Rajitha down deep midwicket’s throat.
De Kock had help from the Lankans, who dropped him when he was 18 and 22. Hashim Amla was also given a life, when he was four. All three times the bowler was Rajitha. The home side’s ground fielding was closer in quality to what you might see in a game in a park somewhere than what’s acceptable at this level.
Having been limited to 244/8 Sri Lanka needed a special performance in the field to compete with the South Africans. Instead, they let themselves down badly and SA won by four wickets with 43 balls to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the rubber.
The Lankans were on the back foot as early as the second over of the match, when Lungi Ngidi had Upul Tharanga caught behind and trapped Kusal Mendis in front with consecutive deliveries on his way to figures of 3/50.
Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella shared 67, Sri Lanka’s only half-century stand, but their success came at a price.
Mathews, who nursed his team past 200 with an unbeaten 72, was troubled by a hamstring problem and Dickwella, who scored 69, needed treatment after being hit in the ribs by Wiaan Mulder.
The tone for South Africa’s innings was set by De Kock and Amla, who put on 91 for the first wicket before the latter slapped a return catch to Akila Dananjaya. Amla’s 43 was his best effort in his last 11 Test and one-day innings for SA, both in terms of his score as well as how comfortable he looked at the crease.
Faf du Plessis’s flirtation with 50 continued, as the SA captain got out for 49.