South Africa were strengthened by the return of Quinton de Kock and David Miller to the side as they thrashed the home team, Sri Lanka, by a good margin of 28 runs in the first T20I on Friday (Sept 10) to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series! The visitors started nicely with a good powerplay (47/0 in 6 overs) and have also finished pretty well with 163 runs on the board!
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| Image credits: India TV News |
South African openers Quinton de Kock (36 off 32) and Reeza Hendricks (38 off 30) put together 74 runs for the first wicket to take them off to a flier! However, Wanindu Hasaranga struck twice in the space of three deliveries to dismiss both these openers! Aiden Markram (48 off 33) and David Miller (26 off 15) did the repair work then put up a 65-run stand for the fourth wicket. Proteas got to 163/5 in 20 overs.
Hasaranga is once again Sri Lanka's premium bowler with 2 for 23 in his 4 overs. Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Dasun Shanaka with a wicket each were the other wicket-takers for Sri Lanka in this innings! Theekshana had a great ODI debut against the same opponents three days earlier but his T20I debut was not as delightful having conceded close to 9 runs per over in his 4 overs.
Chasing 164 to win, Sri Lanka were never really in the chase losing wickets at regular intervals. Chamika Karunaratne scored an unbeaten 14-ball 22* in the end but his innings went in vain as the asking rate was too much already by then! Dinesh Chandimal was their top-scorer with an unbeaten 66* of 54 deliveries but he too got the momentum only in the death overs. Eventually, Sri Lanka were restricted to 135/6 in 20 overs by the South Africans who take a 28-run victory and a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series.
Five out of the six bowlers used by South Africa have picked up a wicket in this innings. Their captain Keshav Maharaj was their pick of the players with bowling figures of 1/19 in 4 overs. South African batter Aiden Markram bagged the Player of the Match for his crucial contribution (33-ball 48) with the bat after South Africa opting to bat first!
Brief Scores: South Africa - 163/5 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram - 48, Wanindu Hasaranga - 2/23) defeated Sri Lanka - 135/6 in 20 overs (Dinesh Chandimal - 66*, Keshav Maharaj - 1/19) by a margin of 28 runs
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