South Africa vs. Sri Lanka: Highlights, Scorecard, Report from Cricket World Cup
South Africa threw down the gauntlet with a crushing nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup.
The Proteas’ record in the knockout stages of World Cups is dire; they had never before won a match, but captain AB de Villiers spoke positively about putting history behind them and his side stepped up to the plate.
Sri Lanka’s strength is in their revered batting line-up and they must have been confident of posting a big score after winning the toss in Sydney, but they were blown away by a blend of pace and spin.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
South Africa were set a mere 134 for victory and De Villiers’ side chased down the score with the minimum of fuss for the loss of one wicket in 18 overs.
"Shame that first game of knockout phase set to be so one-sided. Think everyone wanted to see how Proteas would react under pressure. #SAvSL
— Max Abbott (@m_e_abbott) March 18, 2015"
The South Africans looked full of intensity from the off, and a fierce blast of pace dealt Sri Lanka a blow they never recovered from.
A superb catch from wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off Kyle Abbott removed Kusal Perera with just three on the board.
One run later, Tillakaratne Dilshan was pouched in the slips by Faf du Plessis off Dale Steyn to leave Sri Lanka at 4 for 2.
Kumar Sangakkara came into the game with four hundreds behind him, but he never batted with any fluency and found himself stuck in a rut.
Lahiru Thirimanne showed some form with the bat with a fluent 41, but he and Mahela Jayawardene were undone by the leg spin of Imran Tahir.
Spin should hold no terrors for Sri Lanka, particularly part-time spin, but they were blown away by JP Duminy.
Duminy helped himself to a brilliant hat-trick, removing Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal to leave Sri Lanka staggering like a punch-drunk boxer at 116 for 8.
"WATCH: JP Duminy takes a hat-trick at the #CWC15 #fireitup. See the action on Sky Sports World Cup http://t.co/tBr7bawEt1
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 18, 2015"
The great Sangakkara, who will retire from ODIs after the World Cup, was a helpless spectator as wickets fell at the other end.
He went into attack mode when back on strike and hit a few lusty blows, but he picked out David Miller on the fence at backward point. Seconds after his departure, the contest was interrupted for a brief period by rain.
"'I walk in the rain so on one could see my tearz' #SAvSL pic.twitter.com/R91Yx2N89g
— Kaala Pathan (@Teeesra_) March 18, 2015"
The Sri Lanka tail was completely exposed and the end was swift, with Lasith Malinga picking out Miller in the covers.
Sri Lanka were blown away inside 38 overs, which meant South Africa had to bat for a spell before the tea interval.
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Minuntes | Balls |
| MDKJ Perera | c †de Kock b Abbott | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| TM Dilshan | c du Plessis b Steyn | 0 | 19 | 7 |
| KC Sangakkara† | c Miller b Morkel | 45 | 153 | 96 |
| HDRL Thirimanne | c & b Imran Tahir | 41 | 66 | 48 |
| DPMD Jayawardene | c du Plessis b Imran Tahir | 4 | 14 | 16 |
| AD Mathews* | c du Plessis b Duminy | 19 | 37 | 32 |
| NLTC Perera | c Rossouw b Imran Tahir | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| KMDN Kulasekara | c †de Kock b Duminy | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| PHT Kaushal | lbw b Duminy | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| PVD Chameera | not out | 2 | 17 | 5 |
| SL Malinga | c Miller b Imran Tahir | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Extras | (b 4, lb 2, w 7, nb 2) | 15 | ||
| Total | (all out; 37.2 overs) | 133 | ||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| DW Steyn | 7 | 2 | 18 | 1 |
| KJ Abbott | 6 | 1 | 27 | 1 |
| M Morkel | 7 | 1 | 27 | 1 |
| JP Duminy | 9 | 1 | 29 | 3 |
| Imran Tahir | 8.2 | 0 | 26 | 4 |
The Sri Lankans' day was summed up when Hashim Amla caressed the first ball of the innings through the covers for four.
It set the tone for a run chase that was never out of a canter.
Amla fell shortly before the break to a fine catch in the deep by Kulasekara off Malinga, but De Kock finally found form with the bat with an unbeaten half-century as South Africa breezed into the semi-finals.
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Minutes | Balls |
| HM Amla | c Kulasekara b Malinga | 16 | 23 | |
| Q de Kock† | not out | 78 | 57 | |
| F du Plessis | not out | 21 | 31 | |
| Extras | (lb 4, w 12, nb 3) | 19 | ||
| Total | (1 wicket; 18 overs) | 134 | ||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| SL Malinga | 6 | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| TM Dilshan | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| KMDN Kulasekara | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| PHT Kaushal | 6 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| PVD Chameera | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| NLTC Perera | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
