South Africa vs. Sri Lanka: Winners and Losers from Cricket World Cup

South Africa sealed a spot in the semi-finals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup with a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka.

After being put in to field first, South Africa’s bowlers impressed and restricted Sri Lanka to 133 before their batsmen made light work of the chase and won with 32 overs to spare.

We’ve picked some winners and losers from Tuesday’s quarter-finals—add yours in the comments.

Winners: South Africa’s Spinners

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JP Duminy and Imran Tahir took seven wickets between them, including a hat-trick by Duminy. While the faster bowlers roughed Sri Lanka up, the wily spinners forced them into mistakes.

While Tahir has been one of South Africa’s key bowlers for quite some time, Duminy coming to the party was crucial as South Africa opted not to play a fifth bowler.

Losers: Sri Lanka’s Retiring Duo

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Barring a change of heart, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene will not play one-day international cricket for Sri Lanka again, with the latter retiring from all forms.

After an impressive run in the Pool stages (especially from Sangakkara), the two fell flat in the quarter-final. Sport is a cruel thing, but everybody always hopes for a fairytale farewell for some of its legends. Sadly for Sangakarra and Jayawardene, it wasn’t to be.

Jayawardene bows out with four as his last score while Sangakkara managed a laboured 45 off 96. Of course, they will always be winners when remembered, but on the day, they ended up on the losing end.

Winner: South Africa’s Record in a World Cup Knockout

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For the first time ever, South Africa managed to win a knockout match at the World Cup. It seems like a staggering statistic, but it’s one that has been following them around like a ghost for many years.

There is still a very long way to go for South Africa in this World Cup, but for the time being they can breathe a sigh of relief that they have at least started to exorcise the ghost of the ICC tournaments past.

Loser: Lasith Malinga

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Lasith Malinga has had a very inconsistent World Cup. Against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, he failed to take a single wicket and then bounced back with three wickets against both Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Then his formed dipped again, and he was plastered all over the park against England and Australia.

Scotland offered some reprieve and saw him pick up two for 29. This match against South Africa should have been another opportunity for him to prove that he still has some miles left in the tank, but with such a low score to bowl at, Malinga took just one wicket and pretty much bowled Quinton de Kock back into form.

Winner: South Africa’s Consistency in Selection

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For the most part, South Africa are a team who stick with their players even when they are going through a tough time. Quinton de Kock has had a torrid time in the tournament, and he averaged just over eight before the start of this match.

South Africa could have easily dropped him and asked skipper AB de Villiers to take over the gloves, but instead they persisted with their opener. He repaid their faith and patience by scoring an unbeaten 78 off 57 balls to help take the team to victory.