Sri Lanka Go 4-0 Up

A Kumar Sangakkara inspired Sri Lanka outplayed South Africa in all departments to win the fourth one day international and now lead the former champion side 4-0 in the ODI series.

Sri Lanka in this series has been clinical, disciplined and intense, something that can usually be said of South Africa but not in this series.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first on a typically slow Sri Lankan wicket. Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith got off to a flying start reaching 40 in under seven overs.

But the first casualty of South Africa was the explosive Herschelle Gibbs who was out, cleaned up by Fernando for a quickfire 27 and South Africa were 1/47. Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis tried to increase the tempo, but promising young fast bowler Maharoof had Kallis bowled for 7.

Smith and the newly arrived Jacques Rudolph were intent on consolidating. The two compiled a steady 52 run partnership before Rudolph was dismissed for 24. With the score at 115, South Africa suffered another huge setback as Graeme Smith was the next man to fall.

Smith, who was clearly the anchor for this South African innings was trapped in front, lbw to Lokuarachchi for 46. Young rising star batsman JP Duminy had an uninspiring match, as he fell for 0 as Lokuarachchi struck again.

Mark Boucher unusually played in a very cautious fashion, but alongside the dynamic Shaun Pollock the two put together a possible match saving 64 run partnership.

Pollock was no doubt the aggressor, he registered another crucial ODI half century as South Africa were getting closer to 200. With the score at 179, Mark Boucher's cautious innings came to an end.

Boucher was bowled by the leg spinner, Upul Chandana for just 27 and South Africa were in further trouble. A quickfire 12 from Lance Klusener and a blazing 19* from Nicky Boje ensured that South Africa ended up with a competitive total of 7/235.

Sri Lanka, confident of going 4-0 up in the series began shakily as the dangerman, Sanath Jayasuriya (8) was run out almost immediately. Enter Avishka Gunawardene. The powerful left hander played the South African bowling solidly as he dispatched anything remotely loose to the boundary.

Alongside Saman Jayantha, the pair posted a solid 59 run partnership as Gunawardene went past his milestone of a ODI half century. But the fun didn't last too long after that as Gunawardene was dismissed by Ntini for 52.

The inform Kumar Sangakkara strode out to the middle with a lot of intent and purpose. The dashing wicketkeeper/batsman began positively with a lovely array of strokes all around the wicket.

The partnership of Sangakkara and Jayantha flourished and the two put together a 65 run partnership to complement the previous 50 run partnership.

The solid Jayantha who had been in top form throughout his innings of 46, was dismissed by the spin of Robin Peterson as Sri Lanka found themselves on 3/138.

After this it was all Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara began his attack on the South African bowlers and his partner, Mahela Jayawardene provided support with his blazing strokeplay.

Sangakkara reached another ODI 50 and Jayawardene blazed his way to 48 off just 45 balls with 5 superb boundaries. With that, it was all over for South Africa as Sri Lanka reached the required target with four overs to spare.


Brief Score Summary:

South Africa: 7/235 (Pollock 52*, Smith 46, Lokuarachchi 2/39, Maharoof 1/20)

Sri Lanka: 3/237 (Sangakkara 74*, Gunawardene 52, Jayawardene 48*, Jayantha 46, Ntini 1/39, Peterson 1/22)

Sri Lanka Won By 7 Wickets

Sri Lanka Leads 5 Match ODI Series 4-0

Cricket Web Player of the Match: KC Sangakkara (SL)



Posted by Sangrah