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28 March 2024

South Africa 'choke' Lanka to storm into semifinals

Published
By Cricket Correspondent and Agencies

All-rounder JP Duminy claimed a hat-trick as South Africa stormed into the World Cup semi-finals with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

The victory in the last eight clash was South Africa's first in a knockout match at a World Cup and earned them a date with New Zealand or West Indies in Auckland next week with a spot in the final up for grabs.

The Proteas will probably have to win the semi-final to finally bury their reputation as World Cup 'chokers' but they went some way to removing the tag with the rout of the 1996 champions, who they restricted to 133 runs off 37.2 overs.

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Under-fire opener Quinton de Kock led the way with an unbeaten 78 from 57 balls as the South Africans comfortably reached their target with 32 overs to spare at the cost of only the wicket of Hashim Amla.

After losing the toss and being sent into the field, South Africa's highly rated but under-performing pace attack quickly removed both openers but it was spin-bowling that did the most damage to Sri Lanka's cause.

Duminy took three for 29 and Imran Tahir four for 26, the pair combining to break the back of the Sri Lanka innings with four wickets at the cost of just two runs in three overs to reduce the islanders to 116-8.

The spell included the ninth World Cup hat-trick, Duminy dismissing Angelo Mathews (19) with the final ball of the 33rd over and returning to send back Nuwan Kulasekara (1) and debutant Tharindu Kaushal (0) with the first two deliveries of the 35th.

When Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed soon afterwards, Sri Lanka's hopes of reaching a third successive World Cup final looked all but gone.

Sangakkara, who had been looking for a record fifth successive century, scored a measured 45 but was forced to throw off the shackles as the wickets tumbled around him and holed out in the deep off paceman Morne Morkel.

A heavy shower appeared out of the blue as if to mourn the final one-day innings of one of the game's great batsmen and the players came off the pitch for a 23-minute rain break.

It only delayed the inevitable, however, and de Kock and Amla were soon at the crease playing with the freedom allowed to a batsman chasing such a low target.

Amla departed for 16 but de Kock and Faf du Plessis (21 not out) ensured that skipper AB de Villiers, who scored 162 not out in his last innings at the SCG last month, could keep his powder dry for challenges to come.

Tahir's four victims included Mahela Jayawardene to leave the other retiring Sri Lanka batting great with a tally of four runs in his final innings in the 50-over format.

 



Toss

Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and decided to bat first against South Africa in the first World Cup quarter-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Wednesday.

After the morning cloud cover cleared to leave a warm and sunny day at the SCG, it was inevitable that whoever won the toss would opt to try and put runs on the board.

Both sides have relied on strong batting to get to the knockout stages and both lost two pool games when batting second.

"It's a big quarter-final and we want to put the runs on the board," Mathews said.

"(The pitch) Looks really good, looks nice and hard. We have to start fresh, it's a new game, new opposition, we will need to play good cricket."

Sri Lanka made one change to the side from their last match with leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna replaced by off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal.

Optimism over Rangana Herath's ability to recover from the cut he suffered to his spinning finger faded after training on Tuesday and he was ruled out of the tournament earlier on Wednesday.

Kaushal, who had been on standby, therefore makes his one-day international debut on a ground which traditionally offers something for the slow bowlers.

The Sri Lankans also made a switch in their batting order with Kusal Perera moving up to open with Tillakaratne Dilshan, while Lahiru Thirimanne dropped down to number six.

Batsman Faf du Plessis, who missed South Africa's final group match against United Arab Emirates with a lower back problem, returned to the Proteas top order.

All-rounder Farhaan Behardien was dropped to keep Rilee Rossouw in the side, while Kyle Abbott returns to replace Vernon Philander in the pace attack.

"We're prepared for it," said South Africa skipper AB de Villiers. "We know if we play to our potential, no one can stop us. We back ourselves to chase any total Sri Lanka get."

The winner of the match will head to Auckland for the semi-final against the winner of the fourth quarter-final between New Zealand and West Indies.

Sri Lanka
- Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Tharindu Kaushal, Dushmantha Chameera, Lasith Malinga.

South Africa - Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, A.B. de Villiers, David Miller, J.P. Duminy, Dale Steyn, Kyle Abott, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.

Herath ruled out of World Cup hours before quarter-final

Sri Lanka's World Cup hopes took a dip just hours before their quarter-final with South Africa with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath ruled out of the tournament.

Herath will be replaced by off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal, organisers said in a statement.

Sri Lanka chief selector Sanatah Jayasuriya had said two days ago that he expected the 36-year-old Herath to be fit enough to play their quarter-final.

"Herath needed stitches into the index finger of his bowling hand in the match against England and because he has not trained properly for 16 days, and is still unfit, he has been ruled out of further participation in the tournament," the statement said.

'Fifty-fifty'

Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath was rated as only "fifty-fifty" by captain Angelo Mathews for Wednesday's World Cup quarter-final against South Africa in Sydney.

The 36-year-old Herath needed four stitches in the spinning finger of his left hand after he tried to stop a full-blooded drive from England's Jos Buttler during Sri Lanka's nine-wicket win in Wellington on March 1 and hasn't played since.

"He's still fifty-fifty," said Mathews. "He hasn't had a bowl yet. The physio has to have a look at him once again today. If he bowls at practice today he'll be in contention for selection. If not, he won't be playing."

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If Herath is ruled out, Sri Lanka have slow bowling alternatives in the off-spin of Tillakaratne Dilshan, primarily a batsman, leg-break bowler Seekkuge Prasanna and off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake.

'Home' support

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews hopes his side can feed off yet more passionate support from their fans come Wednesday's World Cup quarter-final against South Africa in Sydney.

When Sri Lanka played tournament co-hosts Australia at the SCG during the pool stages, the vast number of supporters from local expatriate communities, as well as travelling fans, generated so much noise and colour it made the match seem like a home game for the Islanders.

"If you play at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) or SCG it's like playing at home," Mathews told reporters at the SCG on Tuesday.

"Most of the Sri Lankans across Australia or across the world, they fly into Sydney with immense support for us, and we really enjoy playing in Sydney. We've been getting tremendous support wherever we played."

Sri Lanka have a fine record in knockout matches. The reigning World Twenty20 champions, they've also appeared in the last two World Cup finals and won the tournament back in 1996.

By contrast, South Africa have yet to win a knockout match at the World Cup.

Mathews said the key was to remain positive and not be overwhelmed by the fear of failure - a criticism that has been levelled against South Africa.

"I think that when you come to the knockout stages most of the things, most of the teams will think that you can't afford to do mistakes or you'll be out of the tournament.

"That kind of attitude is hard to get rid of. You have to play good cricket back ourselves and go out there and enjoy ourselves."

Turning to the Proteas, he said: "We all know that South Africa are a very hard team to beat, especially in this tournament.

"So the history, it's history. You can't really take anything from it."

Should Sri Lanka lose on Wednesday it promises to be the last one-day international for batting greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sangakkara has been in sensational form this World Cup and comes into the quarter-final having made a record four successive ODI hundreds.

Jayawardene, who scored a hundred in a losing cause during the 2011 World Cup final against India, has had few chances this tournament since making 100 against Afghanistan.

"We've seen Kumar Sangakkara hitting four centuries in a row, and I hope and pray he gets the fifth one tomorrow, while Mahela is a big-match player," said Mathews.

"So hopefully we can win, go into the semis again, the final and win to make it an historic tournament for two legends."

But South Africa have an in-form batsman of their own in skipper AB de Villiers, whose last appearance at the SCG saw him score 162 not out - off just 66 balls - against the West Indies in the pool phase.

"We all know he's a destructive player," said Mathews.

"When he gets going, it's really hard to stop him. So we'll look to attack him early on."

'South Africa won't choke'

South Africa captain AB de Villiers insisted his side will not choke when they try to end their World Cup knockout misery in a Sydney quarter-final with Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

The Proteas have never won a World Cup knockout match since their tournament debut in 1992, with a series of near-misses leaving them with the unwanted tag of "chokers".

But for de Villiers, history really is all in the past.

"All I can say is we're not going to choke tomorrow. We're going to play a good game of cricket and come out on top. Simple," he told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

"How do we approach it? We think we've just got to try and play a good game of cricket," the in-form batsman, whose last appearance at the SCG saw him score a stunning 162 not out against the West Indies in the pool stage.

"I think it's important to focus on what we've been doing well and try and do that tomorrow. We have certain strengths we like to focus on and not focus too much on the opposition.

"We've got to (keep things) as simple as possible. Strike with the new ball, try and bowl them out, if we bat first get a big total and put them under pressure."

South Africa, like Sri Lanka, won four and lost two of their pool matches, with the Proteas beaten by 130 runs by defending champions India and going down by 29 runs to Pakistan.

"I don't believe we've been awful, I feel we've had had a pretty decent tournament so far, finished second in the log (Pool)," said de Villiers.

"We had a tough game against India, where things could have been different, I believe.

"That's about it. Other than that, we've played some good cricket. Against Pakistan, I wasn't too upset about that except for the fact we didn't show enough fight with the bat. But we bowled exceptionally well.

"We have to win tomorrow. We've lost two games (but) we are pretty much on track.

"That's what it comes down to, no one is going to ask us if we played exceptional cricket when we win the World Cup. We are just going to say that 'we won the Cup'.

"So we just want to find a way to win the game tomorrow."

South Africa, often accused of being excessively tense in big games, didn't train on Tuesday.

"I just felt it was important not to focus too much on cricket today, sort of get the brain switched off a little bit before the big clash," said de Villiers.

"It's important for us to be fresh. I believe we play really good cricket when we're mentally fresh, and we play those pressure situations so much better."

Some have tried to bill the match as a contest between de Villiers and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who comes into the match having scored a record four successive one-day international hundreds.

"To be very honest, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way, I couldn't care less about him or me. I just want to win the game of cricket tomorrow," said the 31-year-old.

"If it's our No. 11 batsman tomorrow who wins the game for us, so be it. I just want to find a way to win."

As for South Africa's failure to win a World Cup knockout match, de Villiers said: "We can't focus on what happened back in the day. We can just work with what we've got right now. I'm the captain, and I want to lead by example. And I believe the guys will follow."

Don't obsess over de Villiers, says Murali

Spin great Muttiah Muralitharan told Sri Lanka to bat first against South Africa and not obsess over the destructive batting power of AB de Villiers in Wednesday's World Cup quarter-final.

Muralitharan, a veteran of Sri Lanka's defeated sides in the 2007 and 2011 finals, believes all the pressure will be on the team batting second at the Sydney Cricket Ground and that Angelo Mathews's men can capitalise on South Africa's poor record when chasing.

"I have two messages - win the toss and do not get too hung up thinking about AB de Villiers," the off-spin great wrote in his latest ICC column.

"The side batting first in one-day internationals at the Sydney Cricket Ground wins 58 per cent of the time according to the statistics but, in the pressure of a knock-out match as this one is, I reckon the advantage of runs on the board counts for even more than that figure suggests."

South Africa's four group game victories all came batting first - piling up 411 against Ireland, 408 facing the West Indies, 341 to beat the UAE and 339 in the win against Zimbabwe.

But batting second, de Villiers's team made just 177 chasing India's 307 and a disappointing 202 in pursuit of Pakistan's modest 222.

"A total in excess of 300 batting first means the side needing to get those runs has to go at a run a ball from the outset and, if wickets go down and the run-rate increases, and in the knowledge of it being a win or bust encounter, batsmen's brains can get scrambled very easily," added Muralitharan.

"South Africa have a reputation for buckling at the business end of major tournaments. Sri Lanka have no such hang-up having won the World Twenty20 last year and reaching the World Cup final in each of the past two editions."

Muralitharan advised Sri Lanka not to get distracted by de Villiers who has made 417 runs at the tournament with his best score a blistering 162 not out against the West Indies at the same SCG where Wednesday's quarter-final will take place.

Instead, Sri Lanka have their own game-changers in Kumar Sangakkara, the leading run-maker with 496 and four successive centuries, as well as Tillakaratne Dilshan on 395 runs and boasting a best of 161 undefeated against Bangladesh.

"Sri Lanka need to focus on getting de Villiers in as quickly as possible. If he comes in with a platform laid, wickets in hand and the field spread then that is a licence for mayhem, especially against a Sri Lanka attack that has struggled to contain opponents throughout this World Cup.

"But if de Villiers comes in at 80-3, especially in a big chase, then that could be a different story entirely."

He added: "If I was in charge of the Sri Lanka team meeting then that would be a major theme of mine: forget how much they can hurt us with the bat; we can hurt them just as much, or even more."

Ten facts for Wednesday's World Cup quarter-final between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground:

- Seven of the last eight one-day internationals between these teams have been won by the team that batted first. All eight of these matches were played in Sri Lanka.

- The last 16 ODIs between South Africa and Sri Lanka have produced eight wins apiece.

- Mahela Jayawardene averages 22.9 in the 42 ODI innings he has played against South Africa, his second lowest average against the 18 teams he has faced.

- Lasith Malinga recorded the only instance in ODIs of a bowler taking four wickets in four balls in the 2007 World Cup clash between these teams, a one-wicket victory for South Africa.

- Malinga has taken 92 ODI wickets bowled, the joint-fifth most with Anil Kumble. Wasim Akram (176) has the most.

- Kumar Sangakkara needs one stumping to become the first wicket-keeper to take 100 ODI stumpings.

- Sangakkara needs four runs to become the seventh player to score 500 runs in a World Cup tournament. He has four centuries in this tournament, the most recorded in a single World Cup.

- De Villiers (1,142 runs in 21 innings) needs seven runs to pass Jacques Kallis (1,148 in 32) as South Africa's leading World Cup run-scorer.

- Tillakaratne Dilshan has scored 148 runs off the 144 balls Morne Morkel has bowled to him in ODIs and been dismissed twice.

- David Miller has scored 32 runs off the 19 balls Thisara Perera has bowled to him in ODIs, hitting two fours and three sixes, without being dismissed.

Head-to-head

OVERALL


Played: 59
South Africa wins: 28
Sri Lanka wins: 29
Tied: 1
No result: 1
First meeting:
March 02, 1992 Wellington Sri Lanka won by three wickets

Last five meetings:
July 28, 2013 Pallekele Sri Lanka won by eight wickets
July 31, 2013 Colombo Sri Lanka won by 128 runs
July 06, 2014 Colombo South Africa won by 75 runs
July 09, 2014 Pallekele Sri Lanka won by 87 runs
July 12, 2014 Hambantota South Africa won by 82 runs

WORLD CUP


Played: 4
South Africa wins: 2
Sri Lanka wins: 1
Tied: 1
March 02, 1992 Wellington Sri Lanka won by three wickets
May 19, 1999 Northampton South Africa won by 89 runs
March 03, 2003 Durban Match tied
March 28, 2007 Guyana South Africa won by one wicket

KEY MEN

South Africa

AB de Villiers


His last innings at the SCG was a staggering 162 not out which included the quickest 150 in an ODI, off just 64 balls, against the West Indies in a pool match.

Blessed with stunning hand-eye co-ordination he is capable of improvising the unlikeliest of shots.

But the question for de Villiers, as it is for South Africa, is can he produce his best in the pressure of a knockout match?

Sri Lanka

Kumar Sangakkara


The veteran wicket-keeper has been in sensational form with the bat at this World Cup becoming the first man to score hundreds in four successive ODIs with innings of 105 not out against Bangladesh, 117 not out against England, 104 against Australia and 124 against Scotland.

A left-hander with a supreme ability to pace an innings, the 37-year-old plans to retire from ODI cricket after the World Cup.

Sri Lanka are desperate for his run-spree to continue but cricket common sense suggests he is due a low score soon. South Africa will feel like they've taken two wickets if he goes cheaply on Wednesday.