Maphaka’s six-for makes a mess of Sri Lanka’s batting

Star fast bowler Kwena Maphaka dismissed the first five Sri Lankan batters and then cleaned up the final wicket as he helped the South Africa U19s beat Sri Lanka by 119 runs in their Super Sixes match in the ICC U19 World Cup at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Friday.

Maphaka’s remarkable analysis of 8.2-1-21-6 helped South Africa to almost certainly qualify, along with Australia, for the semifinals of the 50-over competition from Group 2 of the Super Sixes.

The 17-year-old left-arm paceman now has 18 wickets in this year’s competition, six ahead of anyone else and already equal with Wayne Parnell as South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in Youth Internationals. He is also the first bowler in the world to take four five-wicket hauls in Youth ODIs.

Speaking afterwards, the youngster said he was delighted with his efforts. “I feel very good and I’m proud of what I have done,” he said. He added that he was kept grounded by his “good support system” at home as well as his teammates and that he was hopeful of helping his team to go further in the tournament.

A flawless six-wicket haul helps Kwena Maphaka to his third @aramco #POTM of the #U19WorldCup 2024 🎉#SAvSL pic.twitter.com/APOXBNw4pG

— ICC (@ICC) February 2, 2024

South Africa, put in to bat by their opponents, had earlier compiled 232 for eight in their innings, a useful but by no means unbeatable total. But Maphaka’s pace and hostility made a nonsense of any real competitive element in the game as he proved too much for the Sri Lankan top-order.

He virtually won the game single-handed in his first spell, claiming wickets in his first, second and third overs before grabbing a couple more in his sixth. He finally withdrew from the fray with the remarkable figures of 5-20 in seven overs before returning at the end of the innings to wrap up the victory.

Maphaka struck with his third ball, having opener Pulindu Perera caught behind by wicketkeeper Lhuan-dre Pretorius – the first of five catches by the gloveman – as he reduced Sri Lanka to 13 for three and 51 for five before he withdrew for a breather.

He was given excellent support by fellow paceman Riley Norton who took the remaining wickets, finishing with 4-28 in five overs. The allrounder had a good match in general, having scored an unbeaten 41 in South Africa’s innings.

Looking ahead to stiffer tasks, South Africa will be concerned about their fielding – four comfortable chances were shelled although David Teeger took the catch of the game in the outfield. Their batting was also a little below par, particularly against the Sri Lankan spinners who helped restrict them to their ordinary total.

All seemed to be going well for the junior Proteas when the powerful opening combination of Pretorius and Steve Stolk made hay against a wayward opening burst from pacemen Garuka Sanketh and Duvindu Ranatunga. Pretorius, in particular, dealt in boundaries as South Africa raced to 63 in the ninth over before Stolk (22 off 17 balls) holed out tamely to long-off off the bowling of left-arm spinner Vishva Lahiru after sweeping him for consecutive boundaries.

The more staid Teeger then helped the dominant Pretorius to add a further 40 in 56 balls – as South Africa negotiated the first power-play satisfactorily, scoring 71 for one in 10 overs – before Teeger (10 in 25 balls) was unnecessarily run out. Keen to turn a one into a two, Teeger was sent back by Pretorius at the point of no return.

The Sri Lankan spinners then took control while the South African batters went into their shells and offered up some soft dismissals as the ball got softer and scoring became more difficult. The key victim was Pretorius, who was a little careless to be run out at the bowler’s end when offspinner Supun Waduge touched a return hit onto the stumps. He had batted with authority for his 71 in 77 balls, including 10 fours, driven, clipped and pulled all around the wicket.

Having reached 103 for one, South Africa lost five wickets for 30 in eight overs with Waduge – yet to take a wicket in the tournament before today – claiming an easy caught and bowled to see off Richard Seletswane before bowling Dewan Marais who played inside the line. Finally skipper Juan James looped a simple catch to the wicketkeeper after attempting a lap sweep off left-arm spinner Vishva Lahiru.

Romashan Pillay and Norton then tried to rebuild the innings with a watchful seventh-wicket partnership of 49 in 98 balls. Pillay, who had suffered two consecutive first-ballers in the tournament, was understandably lacking in confidence and it was a pity, from his point of view, that he was bowled by legspinner Malsha Tharupathi for 27 just when he was looking to get a shift-on.

Norton, with a valuable 41* off 69 balls, saw it through to the end, however, helped by brisk cameos from Tristan Luus (10 in nine balls) and Nqobani Mokoena (18* off 16 balls).

The Sri Lankan spinners were all excellent with offspinner Waduge the most effective, taking 2-28 in his 10 overs, while legspinner Tharupathi (2-46) and left-arm spinner Lahiru (2-44) playing good supporting roles.

SOUTH AFRICA: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Steve Stolk, David Teeger, Richard Seletswane, Dewan Marais, Juan James (c), Romashan Pillay, Riley Norton, Tristan Luus, Nqobani Mokoena, Kwena Maphaka.

SRI LANKA: Pulindu Perera, Hirun Kapurubandara, Sineth Jayawardena (c), Supun Waduge, Dinura Kalupahana, Sharujan Shanmuganathan (wk), Malsha Tharupathi, Vihas Thewmika, Vishwa Lahiru, Garuka Sanketh, Duvindu Ranatunga.