Sri Lanka celebrated a rare success Friday on their tour of South Africa with a five-wicket win in the fourth one-day match
Big knocks from Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (87), man-of-the-match Thisara Perera (69) and Dinesh Chandimal (59) lift the visitors to 304-5 after the home side reached to 299-7 with skipper AB de Villiers (96) to the fore. After charge close to the six-run-and-over target at the De Beers Diamond Oval for much of the innings, the Sri Lankan batsman strike out against a South African attack sorely missing rested fast bowler Dale Steyn.
unluckily, the win came too late for the tourists to upshot the five-match series with the Proteas taking a winning 3-0 lead three days ago thanks to a four-run win in Bloemfontein."This was a incredible effort as we were hoping to restrict South Africa to 250 or 260 runs," said Dilshan, "and on a personal note it was nice receiving a big score again."Dilshan averaged a run a ball in a 112-minute stand that incorporated nine fours and two sixes while Perera was even faster, taking just 44 balls with 3fours and 5sixes.
Before the ODI matches began Sri Lanka lost a Test series 2-1, prompt the government to order a probe into a "crisis situation" after losses to England, Australia and Pakistan as well.De Villiers hit eight fours and three sixes off 76 balls before being bowled by Perera with the ball slam into middle stump after an attempt to steer it down leg side backfire.Graeme Smith return to form with 68 runs after managing only six, 28 and two in the first three matches of the series, trigger a media and public outcry that led to De Villiers coming out in support of the Test captain.
He struck seven fours and a six off 69 balls in the Northern Cape city before being trapped by Dilshan off the bowling of Lasith Malinga.His dismissal 23.5 overs into the innings was soft with the bat turning in his hand as he attempt a leg-side shot off a escape that was short of a duration.
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