Sri Lanka ride on Sangakkara ton in thriller
For once, the choke was almost on the opposition in a game involving South Africa. Sri Lanka almost messed up what had been the perfect big ODI chase
For once, the choke was almost on the opposition in a game involving South Africa. Sri Lanka almost messed up what had been the perfect big ODI chase
Scorer: S Balasubramanian | Commentator: Siddarth Ravindran
That's the first time a team since New Zealand in 2007 to have chased 300 or more in successive ODIs.
Sri Lanka may have lost the series, but they will be thrilled with the performance of several of their young batsmen. Chandimal has made big strides this series, and Thiriamanne showed off his cool temperament today, with a maiden half-century when the pressure was on.
South Africa, on the other hand, haven't learnt much about their next generation of batsmen. Again it was the big boys who scored most of the runs - Ingram didn't get too much of a chance, du Plessis shone in one game, Petersen didn't make the most of two games at the top. South Africa also need to sort out who their death bowlers are - they lost their head in Kimberley, and today it wasn't exactly top bowling which got the wickets.
This is the second highest successful chase at the Wanderers, after the famous 438 one.
Kishore says: "And thats why Senanayake has come ahead of Malinga."
Presentation ceremony
Dilshan: "Chasing 313 is a tight game always, I thought we could finish easily but they came back well in the end. We batted well in the last two matches, chasing 300-plus. We won the Test in Durban, unfortunately third ODI rained out or we might have won the series. Enjoyed the tour, but personally disappointed with my form, last two matches got back to form."
Man of the Match is Kumar Sangakkara. "It was important to get runs, 3-1 down in the series, important to finish off on a high. Graeme and AB batted beautifully and almost put it beyond us. But our openers started brilliantly, and Thirimanne, a young kid, also came in and performed. Credit goes to those three guys. I got out at the wrong time. ... Senanayake hitting the winning runs with a six was the icing on the cake."
Man of the Series is AB de Villiers. "things have been going my way, delighted with my form at the moment. I thought the boys did really well. Biff did extremely well, I told the press that he was going to come through, and I'm very happy for my man. There's a lot to work on for us, but an happy with the way the boys fought till the end. Every ground supported us really well this series."
AB gets the series trophy and pops the champagne with the rest of the team.
Phew! That's about a wrap for this series from us. See whether Abhishek Purohit has managed to capture all the twists and turns of the game in his report here.
Thanks for the many mails, see you soon!
Sachithra Senanayake is the new batsmen. Ahead of Malinga. Why?
HDRL Thirimanne c JA Morkel b Peterson 69 (100m 63b 7x4 0x6) SR: 109.52
Rangana Herath walks out. He loves to swing the bat, can he keep his head here? Just take the single, and leave it to Thirimanne
KMDN Kulasekara b Peterson 0 (3m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
New man Nuwan on strike. Robin Peterson given the ball, that's a big decision from AB. Tsotsobe has overs to spare,. Long-on, long-off, deep midwicket and deep square leg.
Long-on comes in, sweeper cover goes out. Six to get
NLTC Perera c du Plessis b Duminy 2 (13m 8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 25.00
For the third time on this tour, a Sri Lanka youngster played a vital role in a victory, as Lahiru Thirimanne put in a performance worthy of the Man of the Match award
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For once, the choke was almost on the opposition in a game involving South Africa. Sri Lanka almost messed up what had been the perfect big ODI chase