The Proteas made a resounding comeback in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, dominating the second one-dayer in Colombo on Saturday to level things up 1-1 heading into the decider.
The visitors came out triumphant by 67 runs on the DLS method in a rain-marred game at the R Premadasa stadium.
As it happened, South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted a total of 283/6 in 47 overs, thanks largely to an exceptional hundred from opening batsman Janneman Malan. He produced a fantastic knock of 121 off 135 deliveries, including nine fours and one six.
Reeza Hendricks (51) and Heinrich Klaasen (43) also contributed useful knocks as the tourists put the hosts under great pressure in the first half itself.
Chameera Karunaratne (2/24) and Dhananjaya de Silva (1/30) were the picks of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. Dushmantha Chameera bagged two wickets in his spell, but he was expensive at the same time, going for 52 runs off his seven overs.
In the run-chase, SA speedster Kagiso Rabada and his new-ball partner Wiaan Mulder rocked the home team hard in their first spells, reducing Sri Lanka to 19/3 inside the first six overs. The rain also further jeopardised the hosts’ chances, reducing the overs to 41 with a revised target of 265.
The spinners perfectly exploited the work done by the pacers, as while Keshav Maharaj (1/32) kept things tight, Tabraiz Shamsi chipped away at the wickets column. Shamsi, who has been in great form for Proteas this year, ended with a rare ODI five-fer (5/49).
Amidst the flurry of wickets, middle-order batsman Charith Asalanka made a valiant 77 off 69 balls. Asalanka took some fight back to the opposition when the situation was taking hopeless proportions for the hosts. 36 off 23 from Chamika Karunaratne was the second-best individual score of the innings as Sri Lanka were bundled out for just 197.
Brief scores
South Africa 283/6 in 47 overs (Janneman Malan 121, Reeza Hendricks 51; Chamika Karunaratne 2/24, Dushmantha Chameera 2/52) beat Sri Lanka 197/10 in 36.4 overs (Charith Asalanka 77, Chamika Karunaratne 36; Tabraiz Shamsi 5/49, Kagiso Rabada 2/16) by 67 runs on DLS method
