Showing posts with label de villiers. Show all posts
De Villiers, du Plessis lift the Cup for South Africa
Harare:South Africa defeated Australia by 6 wickets in a dominating fashion, to win the tri-series ODI final at Harare Sports Club with another outstanding innings by Faf du Plessis on Saturday.
He scored a brilliant 96 from 99 balls & just missed out on another ton, his 4th in 5 innings of the series as South Africa chased down Australia's sub-par total of 217-9.
South Africa won with almost 10 overs to spare, but Du Plessis was caught trying to hit the four that would have won the game & brought him his century.
Meanwhile, Captain AB de Villiers smashed a boundary next ball to finish at 57* out & guide South Africa to another triumph.
Earlier, Fast bowler Dale Steyn set up the win with his fiery spell of 4-34 as Australia were reduced to 144-8, followed by a late recovery by all-rounder James Faulkner & Fast Bowler .
South Africa scamper to 98/3 on Day 2 of second test
Sri Lanka v South Africa, 2nd Test, SSC, 2nd day
Colombo: Hashim Amla faced a painstaking test of character as captain after South Africa lost 3 big wickets against a sharp Sri Lankan bowling attack in the 2nd Test Friday.
Amla, 31, dug in with a battling 46 off 134 balls as South Africa trailed Lanka by 323 runs with 7 wkts in hand at stumps on the 2nd day at the SSC ground in Colombo.
At stumps, the visitors were 98-3 with de Villiers (11 not out) being the other batsman at the crease.
Amla is leading the South African team after being named captain last month following the retirement of Graeme Smith.
With the wicket showing signs of deteriorating, South Africa now face a stern task to put up a fighting total in reply to Sri Lanka's 421 in the 1st innings, largely due to a solid 165-run knock by Jayawardene and a defiant 72 by debutant Niroshan Dickwella.
"I think 400 plus is a good score," said Jayawardene. "It's not an easy wicket to play and it's slowing down.
"We just need to keep things tight, create more opportunities and put them under pressure," he said.
The Africans were off to a shaky start, losing their openers in the 1st 9 overs before seamer Suranga Lakmal sent back du Plessis for a fighting 36.
Left-arm spinner R Herath caught opener Alviro Petersen (2) off his own bowling and off-spinner Dilruwan Perera had Dean Elgar (1) caught at short leg.
Amla along with du Plessis tried to rebuild the innings with some patient batting but Lakmal broke their 58-run partnership 30 minutes before close.
Du Plessis edged a widish delivery from Lakmal to Dickwella who dived to his left to take a one-handed catch just inches off the ground.
South Africa wraped up the Sri Lankan innings in the 2nd session of the day, starting with the dismissal of Dilruwan Perera who lobbed a simple catch to Amla off Imran Tahir (1/121).
Sri Lanka then lost Dickwella, who failed to make his ground while taking a cheeky single. Dickwella smashed 1 six & 8 fours in his innings of 72 from 116 balls.
Philander then had both Mendis & Lakmal caught behind in successive overs to finish off the innings.
Dale Steyn Bursts through Lanka
Steyn picks up 5 wickets on a dull track
Dale Steyn unleashed fiery bowling on a dry and flat track to bag his 23rd five-wicket haul in Tests finishing with figures of 5-50.
Sri Lanka stumbled to 283/9 at stumps on day 3 thanks largely to Skipper Angelo Mathews' brave 89 run knock & Upul Tharanga's 83. Upul Tharanga, making his return to test cricket after 6 years, scored a gutsy 83 which included 14 fours & a six.
Steyn's 1st victim was opener Kushal Silva who was caught spectacularly by Vernon Philander while trying to hook him. This brought Sangakkara to the crease who had scored record 7 50s in his last 7 innings. Sanga & Tharanga started domonating the Lankan bowlers a little bit when Sanga chopped one onto his stumps from Morkel.
Jaywardene, due to retire in August, was trapped LBW by Steyn for just 3.
Scorecard
Related:
Rahul Dravid joins Laureus World Sports Academy
Rahane Stands Firm as Wickets Tumble
Elgar shines for South Africa
Sri Lanka v South Africa, 1st Test, Galle, 1st day
 |
| Dean Elgar on route to his century. |
In his first Test as captain, Hashim Amla had won the toss on a pitch expected to turn later. Elgar, in only his third Test innings as opener, and his first outside South Africa, had responded with an innings full of positivity and equally high on concentration. Faf du Plessis, batting at No. 3 for the first time in Tests, had battled his way through scoreless periods with aggressive footwork against spin. By tea, the second-wicket partnership had grown to 124. Alviro Petersen's fall against the run of play for 34 in the morning had been the only blip for the visitors. To add to Sri Lanka's worries, Shaminda Eranga had been restricted to nine overs after splitting the webbing of his right hand while fielding.
But Sri Lanka had found some promising reverse swing after lunch, and they did so again after tea. The first examination yielded no results but during the second Elgar went after a Suranga Lakmal delivery that held its line and edged it behind. A small, but significant opening had been made.
Amla was intent on driving at anything pitched up, but the timing just wasn't there. He tried to loft the tireless Rangana Herath over the off side, but only spooned a catch to wide mid-off for 11.
South Africa wins first ever ODI series in Sri Lanka
South Africa 339 for 5 (De Kock 128, De Villiers 108, Herath 2-48) beat Sri Lanka 257 (Mathews 58, McLaren 3-37) by 82 runs
 |
| Quinton de Kock gestures after his Century. |
Grinding hundreds like Hashim Amla's in the first ODI and glorious ones like AB de Villiers' in Hambantota. Quickfire starts like Tillakaratne Dilshan's fifty off 40 balls in Pallekele and Sri Lanka's 99 off the first ten overs in the finale. Dramatic collapses - Sri Lanka recorded 5 for 13 in Colombo and 5 for 11 in the second ODI, South Africa contributed 5 for 26 in the same game - this series seemed to have it all. Except a run-out. So it was only fitting that when one came, it proved decisive in a contest which saw South Africa make history by winning a first-ever fifty-over rubber in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka had polished off almost a third of the target in the powerplay with Kusal Perera pouncing on anything too full, too short or too much on his pads. When he fell on his sword, Dilshan and a belligerent Kumar Sangakkara took over and continued to knock South Africa's plans out of shape. With the wind causing havoc and the runs coming easily, Sri Lanka didn't need to do anything too risky. But then South Africa introduced the man they hoped would be their trump card, Imran Tahir.
Dilshan hit his first legitimate ball to de Villiers at short midwicket and unthinkingly charged to the other side of the pitch. Sangakkara initially moved forward but then turned back. What could have been a tightly scampered single became a two-horse race to the non-strikers' end. De Villiers didn't need to pull off anything acrobatic, de Kock could afford to fumble and yet Dilshan lost his battle. His fury with Sangakkara would only have got worse over the minutes that followed.
via: http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-south-africa-2014/content/story/759653.html
Dilshan heroics overpowers South Africa
Sri Lanka v South Africa, 2nd ODI, Pallekele
 |
| Hashim Amla became the fastest to 14 ODI centuries. |
Tillakaratne Dilshan's supremacy in the first 10 overs & wickets in the middle and latter portions of the South African pursuit ensured a Sri Lankan comeback and the 3-match series will go to a decider on Saturday. Dilshan raced to a half-century in just 40 balls and set Sri Lanka up for a competitive total and then ended South Africa's biggest partnership - 75 between Amla & de Villiers - to clear Sri Lanka's path to victory.
South Africa were 101/2 in the 20th over when Dilshan lured de Villiers forward with a flighted delivery but the South African captain could not clear long-on. He was caught comfortably by the substitute fielder Thisara Perera well inside the field to spark a mini-collapse. South Africa lost 5 wickets for 26 runs with Dilshan taking 3 of those and the task was too big for even Amla, who scored his 2nd successive ODI 100, his 3rd in 4 matches and his 3rd on this tour so far, to mend.
via: cricinfo.com
