SA condemn Sri Lanka to fifth loss in row
MUSCAT — Oman, who are currently preparing for their final and crucial Group ‘D’ home qualifier for the 2014 World Cup against Thailand, will take on DR Congo in a friendly match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex today.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 6.30 pm.
Paul le Guen-coached Omanis will come up against a team that is managed by Claude le Roy, the man who guided the Sultanate squad to their maiden Gulf Cup triumph in 2009.
In today’s friendly, Le Guen will be testing most of his bench strength as well as the home-based players.
Professional players who are playing their trade abroad, including Wigan Athletic custodian Ali al Habsi as well as Fanja defender Saad Suhail al Mukhaini who are away in London for a two-day trial with Arsenal, will be absent.
And that gives Le Guen an opportunity to field some of the new players he was grooming in the domestic camps, including Fanja’s Mohammed Mubarak al Hussain, who is most like-
DR Congo’s French coach Claude le Roy (second right) watches as his wards undergo physical training exercises
during a training session at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex yesterday.
ly to be fielded in today’s match.
In the World Cup qualifiers, Oman (5 points) are currently in third place in four-team Group ‘D’ behind al- ready qualified Australia (12) and Saudi Arabia (6). In the final group matches to be played on February 29, Oman hope to beat Thailand at home to qualify for the next stage. But all will depend on the outcome of the match between Saudi Arabia and host Australia. EAST LONDON, South Africa — South Africa condemned Sri Lanka to their fifth successive one-day international (ODI) defeat with what home captain A B de Villiers described as a 'clinical' five-wicket win in the second one-dayer at Buffalo Park yesterday.
Despite an innings of 92 not out by Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka’s total of 236 for six was not enough to put real pressure on the home side, who sealed a well-paced run chase with eight balls to spare.
Hashim Amla made 55 and man-of-the-match J P Duminy an undefeated 66 for South Africa.
Amla hit five fours and two sixes and took advantage of the early powerplays as he and Graeme Smith (28) put South Africa in control with an opening partnership of 76.
Duminy, by contrast, hit only one boundary in his 87ball innings — a six off Sri Lankan captain Tillekeratne Dilshan — as he played the anchor role in the second half of the innings.
Dhammika Prasad took three for 46 but South Africa were able to play cautiously against dangerman Lasith Malinga, who only conceded 38 runs but took his only wicket in his final over when the result was all but assured.
Sri Lanka have lost 12 out of 18 one-day internationals since contesting the World Cup final against India in April including the last three matches of their previous series, against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, and the first encounter of their current five-match series.
Seeking to come back after a record defeat in the first match in Paarl, where they were bowled out for 43, Sri Lanka made a poor start after being sent in on a slow pitch on an overcast day.
Dilshan was run out for his second successive nought and Kumar Sangakkara was caught behind for three as they struggled to 21 for two after ten overs.
Upul Tharanga, who made a solid 66, and Chandimal put on 84 for the third wicket to build a foundation for a late innings assault which yielded 109 runs off the last 15 overs.
But the tourists were seldom able to break a stranglehold imposed by tight South African bowling and tigerish fielding, which included two spectacular diving catches, by Dale Steyn at short fine leg to dismiss Mahela Jayawardene and Robin Peterson, running back from mid-on to end an aggressive innings of 22 off 13 balls by Nuwan Kulasekera.
"It was a better performance but we were 20 or 25 runs short," said Dilshan.
Chandimal hit only one four in reaching his fifty off 84 balls but added five more boundaries off the remaining 31 balls of his innings to finish tantalisingly short of a third one-day international century in 19 matches.