9.55 pm South Africa stay alive in this series and the scoreline is now 2-1 in Sri Lanka's favour with two to play. This is only the second time South Africa have beaten Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, after their maiden victory in 1993. That's quite a long wait.
It did not look like it would happen when South Africa's top and middle order struggled for direction and it needed an explosive finish from David Miller to give them a defendable total. Then Mokel and Tsotsobe cut open the Sri Lankan innings with the new ball and South Africa were favourites after that, despite a brutal assault from Thisara Perera late in the piece.
Amar: "I would be really surprised if Tsotsobe gets the Man of the Match instead of Miller keeping in mind Tsotsobe dropping a dolly which could have cost them the game!"
Nawaz Ahmed: "I think T Perera should get some award or recognition for his five 6's and a 4." Isn't appreciation enough?
And here's the presentation ... David Miller is the Man of the Match for a half-century that transformed South Africa's innings. He says it was hard to bat all through the innings, and possible the match. "We only went in the last two overs, would have been nice if we went earlier but the conditions did not allow for that."
Angelo Mathews: "I thought the bowlers did a brilliant job, we were good on the field. Except for the last three overs we did well. The batters had to tough it out. Thisara Perera looked like he was batting on a different strip. He's turning out to be a brilliant allrounder. I got out at the wrong time, with Thisara at the other end, I should have hung around a bit ..."
AB: "It's hard to explain how proud I am of the boys. It wasn't easy. We were under pressure through the game. After losing Ryan McLaren, I found out in the 30th over that he wasn't going to bowl anymore and that was a shock. I threw Robin Peterson in the deep end ... it was a good performance. Morne was quite aggressive today, he really set the standard up front ... once again we maybe did not have enough partnership and an unnecessary run out, I take responsibility there, Faf was looking really good ..."
That's all we have for you today on the commentary. Andrew Fernando will be filing his stories from Pallekele and do check out Firdose Moonda's updated match report.
Thank you for all your emails today, good night!
BAW Mendis c Tsotsobe b Duminy 0 (2m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Mr. G: "Something to ponder on for Robbie P- Thisara was at ease carting him for 35, yet struggled to do the same against AB and Behardien. Lesson to be learnt perhaps?"
END OF OVER:43 | 1 Run 2 Wkts | SL: 166/9 (58 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 3.86, RRR: 8.28)
- Ajantha Mendis0 (1b)
- Rangana Herath11 (32b)
- Farhaan Behardien6-0-19-3
- Jean-Paul Duminy9-1-22-0
Mendis is the last man for Sri Lanka. What a stunning job Duminy and Behardien have done for South Africa, with the ball.
Johan: "I'd like to see who's man of the match here. Probably Millar for playing what could be a career-defining knock, but Duminy's contribution with the ball should not be underestimated..."
SL Malinga b Behardien 0 (4m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
And with that you'd say South Africa will win this now. Malinga is the new batsman.
NLTC Perera c du Plessis b Behardien 65 (59m 49b 5x4 5x6) SR: 132.65
King: "After that pull by Herath, question is- which ballpark were Mahela and Chandimal playing at?"
END OF OVER:42 | 3 Runs | SL: 165/7 (59 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 3.92, RRR: 7.37)
- Rangana Herath10 (29b)
- Thisara Perera65 (48b)
- Jean-Paul Duminy9-1-22-0
- Farhaan Behardien5-0-18-1
nick: "Nice gesture by AB after the 2nd ball, consoling Tsotsobe."
Mr. G: "I reckon AB will have JP bowl two more overs. Thisara looks more comfortable with the extra pace- somebody with variations required here."
END OF OVER:41 | 6 Runs | SL: 162/7 (62 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 3.95, RRR: 6.88)
- Thisara Perera63 (45b)
- Rangana Herath9 (26b)
- Farhaan Behardien5-0-18-1
- Jean-Paul Duminy8-1-19-0