TOI takes you through the major talking points as South Africa defeated Sri Lanka on Monday to return home from the
ICC World T20
on a positive note.
Strike IFor the first time since their tournament opener against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka openers had given a strong start. Led by stand-in skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who had scored two fours and a six in his total of 21 off 19, Sri Lanka had scored 45 in 4.3 overs.
Tillakaratne Dilshan had already hit a six and a four off
Aaron Phangiso leaving
Faf du Plessis a worried man. Off the third delivery of the fifth over, Dilshan took a single and gave the strike to Chandimal. Phangiso fired in a straight delivery that Chandimal completely misread and went for a drive expecting turn. The ball zoomed past his bat and crashed on the off stump. Phangiso gave them another blow with a wicket off the next ball cleaning up Lahiru Thirimanne for a duck. South Africa pacers, especially Dale Steyn, were expensive in the Powerplay overs. The introduction of spinners halted the charge and gave South Africa the edge.
Strike II Two quick blows left Sri Lanka on a shaky ground. However, Dilshan was still in the middle and had just hit a four and a six. He had Milinda Siriwardana for company and together they went on to rebuild the innings and had added 30 runs for the third wicket to take the total from 45/2 to 75/2. It was the 10th over of the Sri Lankan innings and Siriwardana had played a lovely shot for his second four. Then off the second he set off for a non-existent quick single. Too make the matter worse, Faf du Plessis pounced on the ball and fired in a direct-hit, catching Siriwardana well short of the crease. South Africa had again broken a growing stand.
The horrible decisionDu Plessis was batting sensibly and had worked hard to reach 31 off 35 deliveries while guiding South Africa's chase of 121.
Suranga Lakmal let slip a full toss that took a big inside edge and rapped du Plessis on the pad. Sri Lankans appealed and the umpire raised his finger. Plessis was dumbfounded and after staring at the umpire in disbelief, took a long walk back to the dugout.
The amazing receptionThe moment umpire raised his finger to send Du Plessis back to the dugout, the 16000-strong crowd at the
Feroz Shah Kotla
erupted. Not that they were supporting the Sri Lankan team but chants of AB AB filled the stadium as Mr. 360 made his way to the middle. Even the first single he took to get off the mark drew much cheer. It was clear for whom the crowd had gathered to watch on a warm Monday evening at Kotla.