South Africa defeat Sri Lanka in a nail-biting finish
Despite Lasith Malinga's historic bowling feat, wherein he produced an extraordinary spell by taking four wickets in four consecutive balls, Sri Lanka could not manage to stop the South Africans from registering a one-wicket win in their first Super Eight match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.
Playing at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, Sri Lanka put up a paltry target of 209 runs for the Proteas in this humdinger of a match. South African batsmen made light weight of this total and made a very confident start.
Skipper Graeme Smith scored a brilliant 59 off 65 and was credibly supported by the inimitable Jacques Kallis (86 off 110), who ravaged Lankan bowlers for a while. Despite losing wickets at consistent intervals, the South African were doing well because the total was not out of reach. Their ship was sailing fine until an iceberg called Malinga hit them.
At one point of time, South Africa were on the edge of victory, needing just four runs with five wickets in hand. Thunder struck as Malinga went loose, claiming four wickets in four consecutive balls and thus bringing the Lankans right back into the match.
However, the South Africans showed amazing resilience and eventually managed to reach the target in the 49th over, with still one wicket in tow. Apart from Malinga, spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan did a decent job, pocketing three wickets for 34 runs in his ten overs.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka chose to bat first after winning the toss. All through their innings, Lankan batsmen were overshadowed by the might of South African batsmen. Tillakaratne Dilshan (58) and Russel Arnold (50) were the only batsmen who managed to stand up and put a fight. Sri Lankans were dismissed for a meager 209 runs in their last over.
For South Africa, Chaarl Langeveldt was the star performer. In his quota of ten overs, he grabbed five wickets and gave away just 39 runs. He was the man behind the wickets of the best of Lankan batsmen. In fact, he sole-handedly ensured that the total never reached dizzying heights and was deservingly declared Man of the Match.
Sri Lanka and South Africa next play West Indies and Ireland in their respective Super Eight encounters.
Brief Scores: South Africa 212/9 (Kallis 86, Smith 59, Malinga 4-54) vs. Sri Lanka 209 (Dilshan 58, Arnold 50, Langeveldt 5-39)
Result: South Africa won by one wicket
Players of the Match: Chaarl Langeveldt and Lasith Malinga
To know more about Cricket World Cup 2007, check the following links:
Points Table
Highlights
Match Scorecards
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