2087dAndrew Fidel Fernando

Dilshan keeps faith in young batsmen

Sri Lanka's misfiring middle order has been the cause of most concern in the 2-1 Twenty20 series loss to South Africa, but Tuesday's Man of the match Tillakaratne Dilshan has said the youngsters' failures do not necessarily bode ill for the team's future

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

F du Plessis
F du Plessis
85(65) 10x4 - 3x6
Control %79%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 50 runs
  • 4x4 - 3x6
10 0 6 1 11 18 23 16
TM Dilshan
TM Dilshan
74(51) 9x4 - 2x6
Control %92%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 37 runs
  • 5x4 - 1x6
4 13 13 2 10 2 9 21

Best performances - Bowlers

D Wiese
D Wiese
O4
M0
R24
W2
Eco6.00
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
Imran Tahir
Imran Tahir
O4
M0
R20
W1
Eco5.00
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF

Match Details

Toss

South Africa , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

South Africa won the 3-match series 2-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

19.00 start, First Session 19.00-20.15, Interval 20.15-20.30, Second Session 20.30-21.45

Match days

6 August 2013 - night match (20-over match)

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Rohan Sharma

So South Africa are unable to complete the 3-0 series whitewash, as Dilshan, and Jayawardene before him, simply batted them out of today's contest with a wonderful display of hitting all over the wicket. The South Africans will still be pleased with their performance over the last week, and can take heart from it after being drubbed 4-1 in the ODI series before

Hifaz: "Dilshan has the capacity to end the game fluently"

Janaka: "Thank God Thirimanne didnt bat today. Sri Lanka cannot let both Chandimal and Thirimanne bat and win !"

Tsotsobe, Morkel and Parnell were hit all over the park, while Tahir and Wise bowled strong spells which helped the South Africans back into the contest, when it seemed only a matter of which over the Sri Lankans would finish off the game. Please do stick around just a bit longer for the match presentation.

sanjaya: "Chandimal, Thirimanne and Mathews all are not T20 Players, they are ODI and Test Players, they are laggers. try new players, like Dilshan Munaweera and Akhila Dananjaya, Bhanuka, etc FInally due to some beatiful hitting by Iron man Perera and superb batting by dili and Mayya, SL wins.Thanks All of you!!"

Vigi: "What a shot to play against Morkel. Swept him for six!! In Dilly we believe!"

Time for the match presentation

And Tillakaratne Dilshan wins Man of the Match!

Tillakaratne Dilshan: It's not an easy target to chase. We had to take our chances for six overs. Mahela and I had the best start in the series. We gave a fantastic start and momentum. I know I had to play dilscoop so it got bowlers thinking about how to bowl. It has worked for me last few years so I wanted them to think twice before bowling to me. We knew we could pass this total, especially after our start in the first six overs. I didn't panic, I know Tahir bowled well so I couldn't take a chance with him, but with the other bowlers it was a difficult pitch to bowl on, so I could take my chances

Dinesh Chandimal: I am really happy. Guys did really well. Especially the bowling part as we kept them to 160. Mahela and Dilshan batted really well to give us a good start, and then Thisara playing a cameo to help us get there in the end. In previous games we didn't bat well which is why we lost the game. But in this game we batted well so we are feeling good. They (SA) played some really good cricket throughout this series. They gave us a lot of good challenges.

And JP Duminy is Man of the Series with his 135 runs and 3 wickets

JP Duminy: Yes it's been going pretty well. i wasn't really needed to bowl in these last two games. It's unfortunate the Sri Lankans came out firing today. Been working hard on the nets, trying not to over hit the ball as the bats are really big today and just need to time it well. Really enjoyed playing in Sri Lanka, and happy to have won a series here

Faf du Plessis: That's a big trophy to take back on the plane. All in all we are really happy to beat the best team in the world. I thought 163 was enough, got to give credit to Dilshan. Our plans were not as good in this game as in the other two games. Happy to beat the best in the world, the World Cup is not too far away and we did it in conditions that are similar to Bangladesh. Thanks to the crowd for their support.

So although South Africa lost today, and were unable to complete a whitewash, they will be happy to not only have competed, but beaten Sri Lanka, the world's number one ranked T20 team, in their home conditions. Dilshan played a blinder of an innings, but if you are a Sri Lankan fan, you will certainly feel it was all a little too late. Thank you for choosing ESPNcricinfo as your destination to get up-to-the-minute scores and news. It has been a pleasure to take you through Sri Lanka's innings. For now, this is Rohan Sharma saying good night and good luck!

18.1
6
Morkel to Dilshan, SIX, And it's all over! Dilshan plays a lofted sweep shot behind square from a delivery that was pitched full and just outside off. He times it well enough to heave it over fine leg for a six which ends the contest and gives the Sri Lankans a six-wicket win, with 11 balls to spare. What a fabulous knock from Dilshan!

END OF OVER:
18 | 21 Runs | SL: 158/4 (6 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.77, RRR: 3.00)

  • Thisara Perera25 (11b)
  • Tillakaratne Dilshan68 (50b)
  • Wayne Parnell3-0-37-1
  • Morne Morkel3-0-27-0
17.6
2
Parnell to NLTC Perera, 2 runs, full and on off, Perera drills it back past the bowler, gets back for the second run. 21 runs from the over, making it the most expensive of the series
17.6
1w
Parnell to NLTC Perera, 1 wide, Parnell bangs one short, but it is a bit too high, wide called
17.5
4
Parnell to NLTC Perera, FOUR, length ball outside off and Perera able to chip this over the covers for a boundary behind square that just beats the fielder
17.4
4
Parnell to NLTC Perera, FOUR, full and wide again from Parnell and Perera is doing the deed as he reaches out again and hits this through extra-cover, beating the boundary rider who is running in from a squarish deep cover position
17.3
6
Parnell to NLTC Perera, SIX, length ball on off stump and Perera waits on the back foot before hitting a huge blow over Duminy at long on for a six. Sri Lanka now need 17 off 15
  • Dilshan keeps faith in young batsmen

    Sri Lanka's misfiring middle order has been the cause of most concern in the 2-1 Twenty20 series loss to South Africa, but Tuesday's Man of the match Tillakaratne Dilshan has said the youngsters' failures do not necessarily bode ill for the team's future

  • Dilshan powers Sri Lanka to consolation win

    Sri Lanka's batsmen found fluency for the first time in the Twenty20 series, as the hosts rode a furious start and a fast finish to a conciliatory six-wicket win in Hambantota

Sri Lanka 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st67DPMD JayawardeneTM Dilshan
2nd4TM DilshanMDKJ Perera
3rd29TM DilshanLD Chandimal
4th23TM DilshanAD Mathews
5th41TM DilshanNLTC Perera