De Kock steers S Africa to 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka

DAMBULLA: Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock hit an attacking 87 to guide South Africa to a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday.

Chasing 245 for victory, the visitors rode on a 91-run opening partnership between de Kock and Hashim Amla, who scored 43, to achieve their target with more than seven overs to spare. South Africa take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Skipper Faf du Plessis contributed with a valuable 49 after Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya led the bowling charge to give the visitors some tough moments in their chase.The Proteas bowlers also played their part earlier as pacemen Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo claimed three wickets each to restrict Sri Lanka to 244-8 in 50 overs.

Skipper Angelo Mathews made 79 off 111 balls while Niroshan Dickwella scored 69 to give the Sri Lankan total some respectability after they elected to bat first.“Excellent bowling performance, seemed like Sri Lanka would get 280-300 but we kept getting wickets,” an elated du Plessis said after the win. “We kept pulling it back even with them having a set batsman. Plans were good and the execution was great,” he added.

South Africa began their innings with a big first-wicket partnership as de Kock hit bowlers to all parts of the ground during his 78-ball knock, laced with 13 fours and 1 six.Dananjaya took two wickets after South Africa’s quick start but the rest of the bowling and some sloppy fielding let the home team down.

Dananjaya had Amla caught and bowled and then snapped up Aiden Markram for three. He later denied du Plessis his half-century with another caught and bowled effort.

Sri Lanka

U. Tharanga c de Kock b Ngidi 9

N. Dickwella b Phehlukwayo 69

K. Mendis lbw b Ngidi 0

K. Perera c Ngidi b Phehlukwayo 12

A. Mathews not out 79

S. Jayasuriya c de Kock b Mulder 18

T. Perera c de Kock b Ngidi 19

A. Dananjaya c Miller b Rabada 9

S. Lakmal b Phehlukwayo 7

P. Jayasuriya not out 10

Extras: (lb3, w9) 12

Total: (8 wickets, 50 overs) 244

Fall: 1-13 (Tharanga), 2-13 (Mendis), 3-56 (K. Perera), 4-123 (Dickwella), 5-165 (S. Jayasuriya), 6-197 (T. Perera), 7-216 (Dananjaya), 8-227 (Lakmal)

Bowling: Rabada 9-1-48-1 (w4), Ngidi 8-1-50-3 (w2), Mulder 7-0-26-1, Phehlukwayo 9-0-44-3 (w2), JP Duminy 7-0-30-0 (w1), Shamsi 10-0-43-0

South Africa:

Q. de Kock c Lakmal b Rajitha 87

H. Amla c and b Dananjaya 43

A. Markram c K. Perera b Dananjaya 3

F. du Plessis c and b Dananjaya 49

JP Duminy c Mendis b T. Perera 32

D. Miller c Mendis b Lakmal 3

W. Mulder not out 19

A. Phehlukwayo not out 7

Extras: (w3) 3

Total: (6 wickets, 42.5 overs) 246

Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Amla), 2-109 (Markram), 3-162 (de Kock), 4-195 (du Plessis), 5-198 (Miller), 6-231 (Duminy)

Bowling: Lakmal 7-0-39-1, Rajitha 5.5-0-44-1, Dananjaya 10-0-60-3 (w2), T. Perera 7-0-34-1 (w1), P. Jayasuriya 10-0-53-0, S. Jayasuriya 3-0-16-0

Toss: Sri Lanka

Result: South Africa won by four wickets

Series: South Africa lead the five-match series 2-0 Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS), Ranmore Martinesz (SRI)

TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).