ICC T20: South Africa edge Lanka in a thriller

South Africa won their 2nd match today by beating Sri Lanka from 4 wickets.

The game went on till the last over and it was Miller who eased the pressure by sending the ball out of the park for 2 consecutive sixes.

Tabraiz Shamsi got the player of the match award for his remarkable bowling performance.

Shamsi picked 3 crucial wickets of Sri Lanka and destroyed the middle order completely.

With this win, South Africa move to 2nd position in the points table. 

Proteas bowl first

Africa opted for bowling first and invited Sri Lanka to bat.

The decision proved to be correct as Kusal Perera (7) departed early.

Nortje took the wicket of Kusal Perera who was trying to up the run rate.

Pathum Nissanka (72) and Asalanka made a partnership of 40 runs and eased the pressure a bit.  

The partnership was going well but Charith Asalanka got run out.

Kagiso Rabada and De Kock combined to send Asalanka back to the pavilion. 

South Africa took the advantage of the opportunity and gave the ball to Shamsi who then quickly dismissed 3 Sri Lankan batsmen.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa (0), Avishka Fernando (3), and Wanindu Hasaranga (4) were not able to decipher Shamsi’s magical spin.

6 Lankan batsmen were not able to cross the 10 run mark.

After Shamsi’s blows, Pretorius picked up the wickets of Dasun Shanka and Chamika Karunaratne one after another.

As a result, Sri Lanka folded up for 142 runs.

The deadly duo of Shamsi and Pretorius picked 5 wickets together.

Chameera produces twin breakthroughs

South Africa lost their first 2 wickets – Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks to pacer Chameera, who looked in excellent flow.

They were unfortunate to lose their 3rd wicket to a run out when there was a mix up between Van der Dussen (16) and Bavuma.

Van der Dussen looked in good nick and his dismissal was a stroke of luck for the Lankans.

Bavuma (46) and Markram (19) had a small but vital partnership of 47 runs.

Wanindu Hasaranga picked the wicket of Markram. 

Hasaranga struck again and picked the wickets of Bavuma and Pretorius back-to-back and changed the momentum of the game.

Thus, he became the third player to bag a hat-trick in the T20 World Cup.

It was a high-pressure situation that was handled calmly by experienced David Miller (23) along with Kagiso Rabada (13).  

In the last over, 15 runs were required.

Rabada was on the strike, and he did the right thing by giving the strike to Miller.

David Miller then smashed two consecutive sixes and eased the pressure. Next, Rabada smashed the winning boundary for the team. 

It was a thrilling contest that swung like a pendulum from one team to another.

Finally, South Africa won the battle by 4 wickets.

Now, South Africa will face Bangladesh on Nov 2 in their upcoming match.

Sri Lanka’s journey will be tough as they will face England in the next game on Nov 1.