Sri Lanka win dramatic first ODI as brave Proteas’ run chase falls short

A victory target of 301 proved just too much after a brave South African run chase in which Aiden Markram (96) and Rassie van der Dussen (59) played valiant roles in their opening ODI against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday.

In the end, Avishka Fernando’s superb 118 for Sri Lanka and some excellent death bowling by their pace bowlers proved just enough for the home team as they ran out winners by 14 runs in an entertaining, high-quality match in which 586 runs were scored.

Sri Lanka picked up 10 valuable points in the ODI Super League log for their victory in the three-match series.

South Africa were aggressive in their run chase and will point to an unfortunate incident, when their captain, Temba Bavuma, was forced to retire hurt after being hit by a throw from a fielder in the outfield at a crucial point in the 26th over. He and Markram had added 106 for the second wicket and at that stage the visitors looked in prime position for an unlikely win. No team has scored 300 for victory at the ground.

Bavuma, who was outside his crease, put his right hand up to protect himself from a throw and was struck a fearsome blow on his thumb. He looked in pain and received extensive treatment on the field but was forced to retire shortly afterwards.

The visitors then suffered a double blow when Markram, who had played wonderfully well for his 96 in 90 balls, including five fours and four sixes, made his first mistake, miscuing a drive off Praveen Jayawickrama into the covers where Wanindu Hasaringa took a magnificent catch, diving forward to clutch the ball when it seemed likelier to bounce in front of him.

TIGHT DEATH BOWLING

Rassie van der Dussen’s splendid run-a-ball 59, in which he executed a series of superb sweeps and reverse-sweeps, gave South Africa hope, but they were dented when he was bowled by Dananjaya de Silva trying to play another reverse sweep.

Well though Heinrich Klaasen played in the final overs to reach 36, the Sri Lankan pacemen, Duthmantha Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne, locked up the game with some tight “death” bowling. South Africa needed an intimidating 32 off the final two overs and that proved too much.

No-one will ever know, of course, what might have happened if Bavuma – who went to hospital for a scan – had not suffered the unfortunate blow, but he and Markram were certainly looking comfortable when it happened. The two men had added 106 in 110 balls with Markram playing the lead role and Bavuma giving valuable support. When Bavuma left the field the Proteas’ total had reached 155 for one in 28 overs.

Speaking after the game, Keshav Maharaj – who had earlier bowled superbly to capture 2/30 in his 10 overs – said that South Africa could take a lot of positives from the match.

“Temba is going for a scan, we'll know tomorrow how it goes. He's a fighter, I'm sure he'll be fine. We made some mistakes here and there, but there were a lot of positives. We tried to stay in the chase as long as possible. The turning point was Temba's injury, because he and Aiden were going really well until then, but credit to Sri Lanka's bowlers for holding their nerve."

REMARKABLE FLICK

Talking about his performance with the ball, Maharaj said: “I tried to hit my areas and tried to be as consistent as possible. I tried to read the batter and where they wanted to score off me, and luckily that came off. We had very good preparation. I thought the batters did really well.”

Earlier, a wonderful century from Sri Lankan opener Avishka Fernando powered Sri Lanka to their intimidating total of 300 for nine.

The 23-year-old Fernando, who was particularly harsh on South Africa’s pace bowlers, struck 10 fours and two sixes – the first of which was a remarkable flick over midwicket off Kagiso Rabada – in his 118 in 115 balls, his third at this level in just 24 ODIs.

Fernando’s innings was remarkable for its control. Initially aggressive against Rabada, who went for 22 runs in his first three-over spell, the opener then withstood some severe pressure from South Africa’s spinners, particularly Maharaj.

Maharaj and part-time offspinner Markram helped to stem the flow of runs and take wickets, with the latter striking first, bowling Minod Bhanuka for 27 after the opener had attempted a slog-sweep. Maharaj almost immediately doubled up on Markram’s breakthrough, having Bhanuka Rajapaksa caught at deep midwicket by Kyle Verreynne for a duck.

GREAT MATURITY

For a period, Sri Lanka were on the back foot as Maharaj, Markram and initially Tabraiz Shamsi helped to slow the run-rate on a slow pitch with a heavy outfield.

Fernando batted with great maturity, however, and together with Dhananjaya de Silva, the two men added 79 in 109 balls for the third wicket before Maharaj claimed his second wicket, deceiving De Silva through the air enabling wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen to complete a smart stumping. De Silva struck an impressive 44 in 61 balls.

Having done the hard yards, Fernando and Charith Asalanka were now able to cut loose in the most productive partnership of the innings as they cracked 97 in just 71 balls for the fourth wicket. The two men exploited some loose bowling by the South African pacemen, who generally bowled too short, but they also ran brilliantly between the wickets, turning many singles into twos.

Fernando reached his hundred in the 41st over before falling to Shamsi in the 43rd over before the left-handed Asalanka took over the run-scoring, reaching a superb 72 in 62 balls, a career best, to see his team most of the way to their final total.

Aside from Maharaj, the South African bowlers were a mixed bag with Markram offering good support with 1/33 in his six overs while Shamsi was more expensive, taking 1/55 in 10 overs. The pace bowlers were poor, however with Rabada and Nortje conceding 135 runs between them while Andile Phehlukwayo was the most expensive, bleeding 37 runs in his five overs.

SRI LANKA: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Akila Dananjaya, Praveen Jayawickrama

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi