South Africa condemned Sri Lanka to their fifth successive One-day international defeat with what home captain AB de Villiers described as a "clinical" five-wicket win in the second One-dayer at Buffalo Park on Saturday. Despite an innings of 92 not out by Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka's total of 236 for six was not enough to put real pressure on the home side, who sealed a well-paced run chase with eight balls to spare.
Hashim Amla made 55 and man-of-the-match JP Duminy an undefeated 66 for South Africa. Amla hit five fours and two sixes and took advantage of the early powerplays as he and Graeme Smith (28) put South Africa in control with an opening partnership of 76.
Duminy, by contrast, hit only one boundary in his 87-ball innings - a six off Sri Lankan captain Tillekeratne Dilshan - as he played the anchor role in the second half of the innings. Dhammika Prasad took three for 46 but South Africa were able to play cautiously against dangerman Lasith Malinga, who only conceded 38 runs but took his only wicket in his final over when the result was all but assured.
Upul Tharanga, who made a solid 66, and Chandimal put on 84 for the third wicket to build a foundation for a late innings assault which yielded 109 runs off the last 15 overs. "It was a better performance but we were 20 or 25 runs short," said Dilshan.
============================================
Scoreboard Sri Lanka
============================================
U. Tharanga c De Villiers b M. Morkel 66
T. Dilshan run out (Du Plessis) 0
K. Sangakkara c De Villiers b Tsotsobe 3
D. Chandimal not out 92
M. Jayawardene c Steyn b M. Morkel 19
N. Kulasekara c Peterson b Tsotsobe 22
A. Mathews c M. Morkel b Steyn 28
--------------------------------------------
Extras: (lb1, w5) 6
Total: (6 wkts, 50 overs) 236
============================================
Did not bat: K. Kulasekara, L. Malinga, R. Herath, D. Prasad
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-21, 3-105, 4-140, 5-164)
Bowling: Steyn 9-1-54-1, Tsotsobe 10-2-43-2, M. Morkel 9-1-39-2 (3w), A. Morkel 6-0-29-0, Duminy 6-0-26-0 (1w), Peterson 10-0-44-0 (1w)
============================================
South Africa
============================================
G. Smith c Tharanga b Prasad 28
H. Amla b Prasad 55
J. Kallis c Chandimal b Prasad 37
J. Duminy not out 66
A. de Villiers run out (N. Kulasekera) 17
F. du Plessis c and b Malinga 18
A. Morkel not out 12
--------------------------------------------
Extras: (lb3, w1) 4
Total: (5 wkts, 48.4 overs) 237
============================================