Sports
Proteas thrash Sri Lanka to reach semis
Sydney, March 18
Spinners Imran Tahir (4-26)
and Jean-Paul Duminy (3-29) starred for South Africa as they hammered a
below-par Sri Lanka by nine wickets to reach the cricket World Cup
semi-finals at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here on Wednesday.
Duminy's
hat-trick -- the first by a South African in World Cup history -- and
leg-spinner Tahir's four-wicket burst helped South Africa bowl out Sri
Lanka for 133 runs in 37.2 overs in the first quarter-final.
In
reply, young wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock (78 not out), Hashim
Amla (16) and Faf du Plessis (21 not out) completed the formalities for
South Africa with nine wickets and 32 overs to spare.
With such a low total by Sri Lanka, the South Africans didn't feel the pressure and overhauled the target with ease.
De
Kock, with only 53 runs in the tournament so far, returned to form and
registered his fourth half-century in One-Day International (ODI)
cricket and helped his country to notch up the first World Cup knock-out
win.
South Africa's win by 32 overs to spare is their biggest victory in World cup knock-outs.
South African captain AB de Villiers said his team was "very motivated" as they looked to break loose from the tag of "chokers".
"We were very motivated for this game. The guys were in a really good space and they rocked up mentally," de Villiers said.
South Africa will now travel to Auckland to face the winners of the quarter-final between New Zealand and the West Indies.
Earlier,
South Africa exerted pressure on the Sri Lankans quite early. Right-arm
pacers Kyle Abbot and Dale Steyn removed openers Kusal Perera (3) and
seasoned Tilakaratne Dilshan (0), respectively, to leave Sri Lanka in
trouble at 4/2 in the fifth over.
Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman
Kumar Sangakkara, 37, didn't bat with the elegance and style he is known
for and scored a 96-ball 45. Sangakkara, who scored four centuries in
the previous four matches, took 16 deliveries to get off the mark.
After he scored five runs, he became just the sixth batsman to score more than 500 runs in a World Cup.
That
speaks volumes of the tight line and length maintained by the South
African bowlers. Sangakkara, who will quit ODI cricket after this World
Cup, forged a 65-run partnership with Lahiru Thirimanne (41).
Young
left-handed batsman Thirimanne looked in fine form, hitting five fours
to score 41 in 48 balls. Man-of-the-Match leg-spinner Tahir started his
show by breaking the partnership as he dismissed Thirimanne.
Another veteran, Mahela Jayawardene (4), playing in his final international tournament, also fell to Tahir.
Skipper
Angelo Mathews became the first victim of Duminy's hat-trick.
Off-spinner Duminy dimissed Mathews (19) on the final delivery of the
32nd over. In the first two deliveries of his next over, he got Nuwan
Kulasekara (1) and Tharindhu Kaushal (2).
Duminy, 30, is just the
eighth man overall to take a hat-trick in a World Cup match and second
in the 2015 edition after Steven Finn’s effort at the end of Australia’s
innings in the tournament opener on February 14.
Duminy also
became the second spinner to claim a hat-trick in a World Cup after
Pakistani off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq's heroics in the 1999 event.
Moreover, Duminy is only the second South African to get a hat-trick in ODI cricket. Pacer Charl Langeveldt did it in 2005.
Meanwhile,
Morne Morkel removed Sangakkara, while Tahir bagged the wickets of
young all-rounder Thisara Perera (0) and Lasith Malinga (3).
The match was almost dead after the first innings and the target was too small for South Africa to "choke".
"This
is easily the worst performance that we've done in the World Cup and it
happened to be in the quarter-finals," bemoaned Sri Lanka skipper
Mathews.
"There were no demons on the track, we could have batted
well. We could have at least got to 250 and given our bowlers a chance,
but unfortunately we didn't bat well. Maybe the nerves, we just didn't
go for the shots," he admitted.
Mathews thanked old war horses Jayawardene and Sangakkara for their contributions.
"It's
disappointing not to make it a memorable one for Mahela and Sanga. But
let me take this opportunity on behalf of the country and the team to
thank them for their services," Mathews said.
Brief scores: Sri
Lanka 133 all out in 37.2 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 45, Imran Tahir 4-26,
Jean-Paul Duminy 3-29) lose to South Africa 134/1 in 18 overs (Quinton
de Kock 78 not out; Lasith Malinga 1/43).