South Africa finally registered their 2nd win of the ICC WC 2019 England and Wales. The Match 35 of the ICC Men’s WC was happened between South Africa and Sri Lanka on June 28th 2019, at Emirates Riverside County Cricket Ground, Chester-le-Street, England, by 10:30 am the local time.
The toss was won by the South African skipper Faf du Plessis and decided to field 1st.
First Innings :
It is the Sri Lankan openers the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and the wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera walked into the middle but, the next minute it’s the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne departed for a golden duck and created a new record that, this is the 1st time in the history of World Cup a captain was dismissed without scoring in the very first ball he faced (golden duck). Then came Avishka Fernando who was partnered with Kusal Perera as they brought the 2nd wicket partnership to 67 runs in 58 balls which is the only fifty plus partnership and highest partnership of the Sri Lankan Innings. After 67 runs on board it was Avishka Fernando who departed for 30 off 29 balls with 4 fours included, five runs later it was the Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera who also departed for 30 runs off 34 balls with 4 boundaries included. Then happened the damage in a flat batting track, the Lankan batsmen gave their wickets so cheaply as all the middle order and lower order batsmen failed to contribute an impressive score to lift the team’s total. All the Sri Lankan batsmen went early without settling in the middle as Kusal Mendis made 23 off 51 balls with 2 boundaries included, the experienced Angelo Mathews went for 11 off 29 balls with one four, thus Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeevan Mendis ,Thisara Perera and tailender Isuru Udana made some small contribution of 24, 18, 21 and 17 respectively in the later part of the 1st innings.
It was South Africa bowlers who did an excellent job with white ball to get rid off Sri Lankan batsmen. Except Imran Tahir who was brilliant but, did not pick any wicket as the Sri Lankan batsmen safeguarded their wickets against the 40 year old South African leg-breaker. It was Chris Morris and the World Cup debutant Dwaine Pretorius who both picked 3 wicket-haul each as Dwaine was exceptional by just giving 25 in his complete 10 over spell at an economy of 2.5 runs per over. Then it was Kagiso Rabada who picked 2 for 36 in his 10 and finally Andile Phehlukwayo and JP Duminy picked 1 each. Thus the Sri Lankans could only manage 203 runs for the loss of all the 10 wickets in 49.3 overs.
Second Innings :
It was South Africans who were very eager to win a match before their 2019 WC journey ends. Yes! they have won only one match so far that too against the Afghans and only 1 match left after this match against the Lankans so that the South Africans could at least finish a decent position in the table of this WC 2019 tournament. It was the wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock and the most experienced Hashim Amla started to chase but once again Quinton de Kock failed to make a good start as he went early for 15 off 16 balls with 3 boundaries included in it. Then came the South African skipper and the no.3 batsman who’s none other than Faf du Plessis was partnered with Hashim Amla to bring the team’s 2nd win in the tournament. Yes! the partnership for the 2nd wicket went on for 175 runs off 193 balls which is the match winning partnership. It is the South African opener Hashim Amla who registered his 39th ODI fifty with only 5 boundaries included in that innings of 80 runs unbeaten in 105 balls and the skipper Faf made a 96 not out who was just 4 runs short of his first WC century. His 96 off 103 balls includes 10 boundaries and 1 six at a strike rate of 93 plus. Except the Sri Lankan senior and experienced bowler Lasith Malinga no other Sri Lankan bowlers contributed with the wickets in the white ball. As Malinga took only 1 wicket which was Quinton de Kock at 15 runs. He gave 47 runs with a maiden over in his 10 overs spell. Thus South Africa reached 206 for the loss of only 1 wicket in 37.2 overs.
Man of the Match(Mom) : It is the WC debutant South Africa’s Dwaine Pretorius who grabbed the Man of the Match award for his 25/3 in his 10 overs spell.
Records: This 175 runs is South Africa’s 2nd highest 2nd wicket partnership in World Cups.
Faf du Plessis registered his 3rd fifty of this tournament and 35th in ODI.
Hashim Amla registered his 2nd half-century of this WC and 39th in ODI.
The toss was won by the South African skipper Faf du Plessis and decided to field 1st.
First Innings :
It is the Sri Lankan openers the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and the wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera walked into the middle but, the next minute it’s the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne departed for a golden duck and created a new record that, this is the 1st time in the history of World Cup a captain was dismissed without scoring in the very first ball he faced (golden duck). Then came Avishka Fernando who was partnered with Kusal Perera as they brought the 2nd wicket partnership to 67 runs in 58 balls which is the only fifty plus partnership and highest partnership of the Sri Lankan Innings. After 67 runs on board it was Avishka Fernando who departed for 30 off 29 balls with 4 fours included, five runs later it was the Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera who also departed for 30 runs off 34 balls with 4 boundaries included. Then happened the damage in a flat batting track, the Lankan batsmen gave their wickets so cheaply as all the middle order and lower order batsmen failed to contribute an impressive score to lift the team’s total. All the Sri Lankan batsmen went early without settling in the middle as Kusal Mendis made 23 off 51 balls with 2 boundaries included, the experienced Angelo Mathews went for 11 off 29 balls with one four, thus Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeevan Mendis ,Thisara Perera and tailender Isuru Udana made some small contribution of 24, 18, 21 and 17 respectively in the later part of the 1st innings.
It was South Africa bowlers who did an excellent job with white ball to get rid off Sri Lankan batsmen. Except Imran Tahir who was brilliant but, did not pick any wicket as the Sri Lankan batsmen safeguarded their wickets against the 40 year old South African leg-breaker. It was Chris Morris and the World Cup debutant Dwaine Pretorius who both picked 3 wicket-haul each as Dwaine was exceptional by just giving 25 in his complete 10 over spell at an economy of 2.5 runs per over. Then it was Kagiso Rabada who picked 2 for 36 in his 10 and finally Andile Phehlukwayo and JP Duminy picked 1 each. Thus the Sri Lankans could only manage 203 runs for the loss of all the 10 wickets in 49.3 overs.
Second Innings :
It was South Africans who were very eager to win a match before their 2019 WC journey ends. Yes! they have won only one match so far that too against the Afghans and only 1 match left after this match against the Lankans so that the South Africans could at least finish a decent position in the table of this WC 2019 tournament. It was the wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock and the most experienced Hashim Amla started to chase but once again Quinton de Kock failed to make a good start as he went early for 15 off 16 balls with 3 boundaries included in it. Then came the South African skipper and the no.3 batsman who’s none other than Faf du Plessis was partnered with Hashim Amla to bring the team’s 2nd win in the tournament. Yes! the partnership for the 2nd wicket went on for 175 runs off 193 balls which is the match winning partnership. It is the South African opener Hashim Amla who registered his 39th ODI fifty with only 5 boundaries included in that innings of 80 runs unbeaten in 105 balls and the skipper Faf made a 96 not out who was just 4 runs short of his first WC century. His 96 off 103 balls includes 10 boundaries and 1 six at a strike rate of 93 plus. Except the Sri Lankan senior and experienced bowler Lasith Malinga no other Sri Lankan bowlers contributed with the wickets in the white ball. As Malinga took only 1 wicket which was Quinton de Kock at 15 runs. He gave 47 runs with a maiden over in his 10 overs spell. Thus South Africa reached 206 for the loss of only 1 wicket in 37.2 overs.
Man of the Match(Mom) : It is the WC debutant South Africa’s Dwaine Pretorius who grabbed the Man of the Match award for his 25/3 in his 10 overs spell.
Records: This 175 runs is South Africa’s 2nd highest 2nd wicket partnership in World Cups.
Faf du Plessis registered his 3rd fifty of this tournament and 35th in ODI.
Hashim Amla registered his 2nd half-century of this WC and 39th in ODI.