Shaun Pollock led a pack of sharp pacemen to inspire South Africa's crucial 78-run victory over Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy tournament here on Tuesday.
He grabbed two big wickets as South Africa defended their modest total of 219-9 by dismissing Sri Lanka for 141 in a Group-B match they desperately needed to win to sustain their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Fast bowlers Andre Nel (3-41) and Makhaya Ntini (2-24) also impressed but it was man-of-the-match Pollock who wrecked Sri Lanka's top order, bowling his full quota of 10 overs in one spell to finish with 2-21.
Pollock also contributed a vital 21 not out, brought off a run-out and held a catch.
This was South Africa's first win after two matches in the four-team group, having lost to New Zealand in their previous game at Mumbai on a dubious pitch. They now take on Pakistan in their last league game on Friday.
Sri Lanka finished their league engagements with one win in three games. New Zealand have posted one victory in two matches and Pakistan one in one. All the teams are still in contention, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals.
Put in to bat, South Africa were rattled by pace before being propped by AB de Villiers (54) and Jacques Kallis (43), who added 80 for the fourth wicket after their team had been struggling at 30-3.
They managed to cross the 200-mark, thanks to a rollicking stand between Robin Peterson (22) and Pollock who plundered 32 runs in the last two overs.
Fast bowlers Lasith Malinga (4-53) and Chaminda Vaas (2-16) did the maximum damage. They received valuable support from left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya, who finished with 2-36.
Pollock began it when he trapped Jayasuriya (three) leg-before in his third over before having wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara caught behind for a duck in his sixth.
Ntini got the prize wicket of Upul Tharanga, who was caught behind for 11. Tharanga was the tournament's leading scorer before this game with 309 runs in five matches with two centuries.
A run-out was the last thing Sri Lanka needed at this stage and they virtually lost the match when well-set skipper Mahela Jayawardene fell short of the crease after scoring a neat 36, joint top-scorer with Tillakaratne Dilshan.
South Africa then made short work of Sri Lanka's lower-order batting, with Vaas (29 not out) alone offering resistance.
Kallis, who sprained his ankle during the knock, and de Villiers did repair the damage with their responsible knocks, but could never take liberties against Jayasuriya and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
SCOREBOARD:
SOUTH AFRICA:
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G. Smith c Jayasuriya b Vaas 10
B. Dippenaar c Sangakkara b Vaas 3
H. Gibbs c Sangakkara b Malinga 16
J. Kallis st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 43
AB de Villiers c Maharoof b Muralitharan 54
M. Boucher b Malinga 29
J. Kemp b Jayasuriya 7
S. Pollock not out 21
R. Peterson b Malinga 22
A. Nel b Malinga 0
M. Ntini not out 1
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Extras: (b4, lb2, nb1, w6) 13
Total: (for nine wickets) 219
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Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Smith), 2-30 (Gibbs), 3-30 (Dippenaar), 4-110 (Kallis), 5-145 (Villiers), 6-169 (Kemp), 7-176 (Boucher), 8-218 (Peterson), 9-218 (Nel).
Bowling: Vaas 10-3-16-2, Malinga 9-0-53-4 (w3), Fernando 5-0-24-0 (nb1), Muralitharan 10-0-42-1 (w1), Jayasuriya 10-0-36-2 (w2), Maharoof 5-0-34-2 (w2), Dilshan 1-0-8-0.
Overs: 50
SRI LANKA:
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U. Tharanga c Boucher b Ntini 11
S. Jayasuriya lbw b Pollock 3
M. Jayawardene run out 36
K. Sangakkara c Boucher b Pollock 0
M. Atapattu b Nel 2
T. Dilshan c Gibbs b Nel 36
F. Maharoof c Smith b Kallis 3
C. Vaas not out 29
L. Malinga c Smith b Nel 2
M. Muralitharan c Pollock b Ntini 3
D. Fernando lbw b Kemp 4
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Extras: (lb5, nb2, w5) 12
Total: 141
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Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Jayasuriya), 2-21 (Tharanga), 3-23 (Sangakkara), 4-34 (Atapattu), 5-78 (Jayawardene), 6-91 (Maharoof), 7-114 (Dilshan), 8-124 (Malinga), 9-124 (Muralitharan).
Bowling: Pollock 10-0-21-2 (nb1, w1), Ntini 9-0-24-2 (nb1, w1), Nel 9-1-41-3, Kallis 8-0-34-1 (w1), Kemp 3.1-0-16-1 (w2).
Overs: 39.1
Result: South Africa win by 78 runs
Man of the match: Shaun Pollock (RSA)
Toss: Sri Lanka
Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) and Simon Taufel (AUS)
TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Next match: New Zealand v Pakistan at Mohali (October 25)
STANDINGS:
Champions Trophy league standings and remaining fixtures after Tuesday's match (played, won, lost, tie/no result, points, net run-rate):
GROUP A
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India 1 1 0 0 2 +1.77
Australia 2 1 1 0 2 +0.51
West Indies 1 1 0 0 2 +0.20
England 2 0 2 0 0 -1.52
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GROUP B:
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England 2 0 2 0 0 -1.52
New Zealand 2 1 1 0 2 +0.41
Pakistan 1 1 0 0 2 +0.23
South Africa 2 1 1 0 2 -0.09
Sri Lanka 3 1 2 0 2 -0.20
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(Top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals)
REMAINING MATCHES:
October 25: New Zealand v Pakistan, Mohali
October 26: India v West Indies, Ahmedabad
October 27: Pakistan v South Africa, Mohali
October 28: England v West Indies, Ahmedabad
October 29: India v Australia, Mohali
Semi-finals
November 1: A1 v B2, Mohali
November 2: B1 v A2, Jaipur
Final
November 5 in Mumbai
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