South Africa Vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI
Perera
who? That would have been my reaction if I had not watched the match between
Sri Lanka and South Africa last night. However I did watch it and it was all
worthy of my lost sleep. As I saw
spectacular batting by little know Sri Lankan called Thisara Perera who seemed
to be on a rampage against South Africa. He ensured Sri Lanka had something to
rejoice about the tour despite having already lost the series. This victory in
the 4th ODI restored some of the lost pride.
When
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat, it looked it’s going to be
another walk in the park game for them. South Africa having already won the 5
ODI series and were currently leading 3-0. Graeme smith played a captain’s
knock by scoring 68 runs off 69 balls. He along with Alviro but a partnership
if 84 runs fo the first wicket. It was AB de Villiers with his stand out
performance who further made everyone believe that South Africa were on a
mission to slaughter the Lankans.
AB de
Villiers continued his assault against all the Lankan bowlers. He was out at 96
(off 76 balls), 4 runs short of what could have been a magnificent centaury. He
played a splendid innings which included 8 boundaries and 3 sixes. With AB gone
South Africans were not able to continue with the same momentum and ended up
with a score of 299/7 in 50 Over(s). Sri Lankan bowling was ordinary as they
struggled against the South Africans. Perera and Rangana picked 2 wickets each
and Malinga & Kulasekara picked 1 wicket each.
Sri Lanka Won By 5 Wickets
When
Sri Lanka started their chase I would say a majority of viewers still believed
they would lose yet another match. They lost their first wicket fairly too soon
at 17 runs in the 4th Over. However the experienced Dlishan ( 87 off
87) and Sangakara (32 off 31) steadied the ship. Dinesh Chandimal who came in
following the dismissal of Dilshan played sensibly and scored 59 runs of 81
balls. When Sri Lanka where 194/4 in the 35th over in came Thisara
Perera. And boy oh boy! What a player he turned out to be. He was the man who
took away the game from South Africa. He made 69 run(s) off 44 balls(s) which
included 3 classical boundaries and 5 magnificent sixes.
In the
end it was much deserved victory for Sri Lanka as they successfully chased the
target, the score board read S.L: 304/5
48.4 Over. No laurels for guessing the man of the match. It was indeed Thisara Perera
for his excellent innings. Sri Lanka had finally found a diamond hidden in
their in Kimberly, much famous for its diamond mines.
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