Sri Lanka kicked off their home series vs South Africa in a closely contested match. Opener Fernando and Asalanka were the main contributors in the 300-run total, which was 14 runs higher than what the travelling South Africans could conjure up despite a great start.
Sri Lanka won the toss, chose to bat first and used it to their advantage as they got off to a great start. Avishka Fernando’s 3rd ODI century was well supported by Dhananjaya de Silva (44 off 62) and Charith Asalanka (72 off 62) in the middle order. In fact, out of the first four partnerships, just one failed to cross the 50-run threshold.
Premier South African seamers Kagiso Rabada (2 for 66) and Anrich Nortje (0 for 69) were taken to the cleaners by their high standards. The pick of the bowlers was Keshav Maharaj, who picked up a couple of wickets at the cost of just 30 runs in his 10-over spell, which included a maiden over.
Sri Lanka ended up scoring exactly 300 runs, and history was on their side as no visiting side had chased down such a high total in a day-and-night match in the island country.
Much like their counterparts, South Africa’s top order didn’t disappoint either. Aiden Markram (96 off 90) failed to reach his 1st ODI century, but it was a combined effort of the top 4 batsmen which saw the African country reach 209/3 with more than 10 overs to play. This was the stage when the Sri Lankan bowlers brought their A-game.
Akila Dananjaya picked up two important wickets (including van der Dussen who was batting on 59) to ensure the ball was in Sri Lanka’s court throughout the last phase of the match. The first ODI was a well-contested affair, but the home side were deserving winners. They were easily the better side during the 10 overs in both the innings, which ended up being the difference.
Brief Scores
Sri Lanka: 300/9 in 50 overs (Fernando Avishka 118, Charith Asalanka 72; Keshav Maharaj 2/30, Kagiso Rabada 2/66) defeated
South Africa: 286/6 in 50 overs (Aiden Markram 96, Rassie van der Dussen 59; Akila Dananjaya 2/65, Chamika Karunaratne 1/18)
Man of the Match
Avishka Fernando
