So South Africa get that knockout monkey off their back. One down, three to go. Stick around on site for the report and all the reaction from the SCG. And join us again on Thursday for India v Bangladesh. But for now, cheerio!
When AB de Villiers asks for your shirt, you know you've been doing things right. #Mahela
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) March 18, 2015
It’s a miserable way for the epic ODI careers of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, once-in-a-generation players that just happened to come along at the same time, to come to an end. You would doubt that either Dilshan or Malinga will be back for another World Cup tilt in four years time. Sri Lanka enter a period of rebuilding but they’ve done it before post-1996 when Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Marvan Atapattu and co departed.
The two departing greats leave the field first before embarking on a lap of honour.
While Sri Lanka regard the future nervously, South Africa can look forward to a semi-final against either West Indies or, more likely, New Zealand.
South Africa win by nine wickets!
18th overs: South Africa 130-1 (du Plessis 20, de Kock 78) Eleven needed so Malinga returns for one last blast. De Kock again threads the needle through point, this time for three, and repeats the trick a couple of balls later for two more. A wide takes South Africa to within a boundary of a first ever knockout win in the World Cup … and from the final ball of the over de Kock smashes the ball through the covers for four. South Africa win! With 32 overs to spare!
Love a good close evenly matched quarter final @ICC
— Ed Joyce (@edjoyce24) March 18, 2015
17th overs: South Africa 123-1 (du Plessis 20, de Kock 69) Kaushal changes end and finds a thick edge, but de Kock is able to add three to the tally regardless as Malinga chases the ball out to the third man boundary. Sri Lanka just want this to be over.
16th overs: South Africa 118-1 (du Plessis 18, de Kock 66) Dilshan returns, because someone’s got to. Du Plessis, playing almost anonymously, cuts for a couple then clips for a single. De Kock punches through the covers for two – his placement has been exceptional – then lofts back over the bowlers head for two more, and nurdles for a single. Just 16 more runs required for South Africa now.
15th overs: South Africa 110-1 (du Plessis 14, de Kock 61) Thisara Perera comes in to take Chameera mercifully out of the firing line. He digs one in and de Kock pivots and pulls for four, a sumptuous shot straight out of the middle of the meat and the meat of the middle. The next is a huge steepling pull out to midwicket, where Kusal makes an enormous amount of ground before diving full length … and fingertipping the ball over the boundary. Great effort, but nothing is going Sri Lanka’s way. Everything’s coming up Quinton.
14th overs: South Africa 100-1 (du Plessis 14, de Kock 53) Kaushal continues. A skittered single pushed to mid off takes South Africa to a serene 100.
13th overs: South Africa 96-1 (du Plessis 13, de Kock 50) A glorious shot from de Kock as Chameera strays too full – it’s a clubbing on drive that rattles away to the rope. And nothing is going right for Sri Lanka here: de Kock steps to leg and Chameera follows him, then goes past him and sends the ball whistling away for five wides. The next is a bouncer that flicks off the batsman’s helmet and away for four leg byes. There was actually an edge on that but not spotted so de Kock has to wait for his half century, although not for long as a single off the last takes him there from 39 balls. Chameera’s two overs have gone for 29.
12th overs: South Africa 79-1 (du Plessis 12, de Kock 44) In a fairly dismal day for Sri Lanka this is a bright spot – 22-year-old Tharindu Kaushal and 23-year-old Dushmantha Chameera bowling in tandem and offering a glimmer of hope for the future in a game that will be marked by farewells. Kaushal finds an inside edge here but the ball floats past short midwicket via de Kock’s pad. A couple from the over.
11th overs: South Africa 77-1 (du Plessis 11, de Kock 43) Chameera enters the fray for the first time and strays a touch too full to de Kock, who economically punches through the covers for four. He’s beginning to look a different player to the one that scratched around in the group stages. He follows that up by pulling a no ball away for four more! The free hit is brilliantly bowled by Chameera, whose wide yorker beats the bat. But he adds a couple of wides to the pretty dismal mix. Sixteen off the over in all. With the batsmen loosening up this could be over in a blur now.
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10th overs: South Africa 61-1 (du Plessis 7, de Kock 34) Kaushal once more. The batsmen milk a few singles and from the last de Kock finds that gap through point for the umpteenth time for four.
9th overs: South Africa 53-1 (du Plessis 4, de Kock 29) Mathews is giving Malinga every chance to bowl his side back into the game, but there’s no threat here at the moment. Du Plessis chops him away for a couple, then pulls for a single. Malinga oversteps with the last and no balls for the second time – de Kock pulls for three, so it’s du Plessis who gets the free hit … which is a wide. Malinga has another go … and it’s a swing-and-a-miss.
8th overs: South Africa 45-1 (du Plessis 1, de Kock 26) Kaushal continues with his mystery spin. It’s excellent stuff from the debutant – Du Plessis knocks him to leg for a single to get off the mark, but otherwise he’s absolutely on the money, turning the ball dangerously away from the left-handed de Kock. Just the single from the over.
7th overs: South Africa 44-1 (du Plessis 0, de Kock 26) Off we go again then. Malinga sends down the final two balls of the seventh over: the first is crashed through the covers for four by the increasingly assured de Kock; the second is a bouncer which the batsman ducks underneath.
Perhaps the best news for South Africa today – apart from what looks like it’s going to be a comfortable victory and progression into the semi-finals (Fate, consider yourself tempted) – is the performances of the players who have been considered weak links – Duminy bowled well and picked up a first ever hat-trick, albeit with Sri Lankan assistance, and de Kock has looked assured at the top of the innings.
6.4 overs: South Africa 40-1 (de Kock 22) And that’s the dinner break.
WICKET! Amla c Kulasekara b Malinga 16 (South Africa 40-1)
South Africa need fewer than 100 more as Malinga steams in for what will probably be the final over of this mini-session. Malinga offers Amla a short, wide one, the batsman slashes at it like Jason Vorhees in a room of teenagers and Kulasekara runs round from third man to take the catch.
6th over: South Africa 37-0 (Amla 14, de Kock 22) Kaushal, on his ODI debut, is handed the ball and told “Please save our World Cup with your mystery spin”. A couple of exaggerated strides to the crease, with his body leaning backwards as if his head is attached by an invisible string to the top of his mark, and a ball sent down the leg side. The batsmen stay cautious against him, though, and he does seem to be getting some turn both ways. Five from the over.
5th over: South Africa 32-0 (Amla 11, de Kock 20) Malinga continues and flings down a thigh high full toss about a yard outside off – de Kock just about reaches it and bunts for another boundary through point. Bleurgh: no ball, misfield, two runs, free hit. The free-hit ball, though, is a fine yorker that de Kock can only block out. Still, this is already getting away from Sri Lanka like an umbrella in a gale.
4th over: South Africa 24-0 (Amla 10, de Kock 14) The Dilshan Experiment is called off after one over so Nuwan Kulasekara steams in instead. De Kock settles in with a checked drive guided neatly through point for four … and he repeats the trick next ball! Fine shot. This is pretty grim stuff from Kulasekara – a short straight one is punched wide of mid on for four more by de Kock for the third boundary of the over, and he’s fortunate not to concede a fourth thanks to a fine diving stop in the covers.
3rd over: South Africa 11-0 (Amla 9, de Kock 2) Amla take on a Malinga short ball and doesn’t quite get hold of it but they skitter through for two anyway. He follows that up with another play-and-miss before slashing to deep backward point for one. De Kock does well to dig out a decent yorker and gives the bowler a wry smile at the non-striker’s end. It’s been a sensible and safe start in the main from South Africa.
2nd over: South Africa 6-0 (Amla 5, de Kock 1) Oof! Dilshan takes the new ball at the other end. Anything JP Duminy can do … The under-pressure Quinton de Kock (with scores of 7, 7, 12, 1, 0, and 26 in this tournament so far) gets off the mark with a single dinked into the on side and, after an Amla single, sees off the rest of the over fairly comfortably.
1st over: South Africa 4-0 (Amla 4, de Kock 0) Malinga, quite possibly playing in his final World Cup game, serves up a near-half-volley for Amla from the first and the opener powers him through the covers to get the innings off the mark with a boundary. The bowler responds well, and eventually beats the bat with the last, Amla wafting outside off.
Out come the players for one of these weird mini-sessions. New Zealand took any soupçon of pressure off themselves with a blistering start in one of these against England in the groups. Will South Africa take the same approach?
The lowest score ever defended in a World Cup match? The 134 Zimbabwe managed to keep England away from in 1992 (via TMS on Twitter).
Insert your own “Well that’s escalated quickly” meme here. Tahir and Duminy’s combined for figures of 17.2-1-55-7 and from this point it will take the mother of all chokes from South Africa.
South Africa require 134 to win
I can’t imagine it’ll take long. It’s an outstanding pitch, with good carry and bounce and a bit of grip for the spinners, but that was pathetic from Sri Lanka, albeit in the face of some very good bowling.
John Ashdown will take you through the chase, which begins in five minutes or so.
Wicket! Malinga c Miller b Tahir 3. Sri Lanka 133
Malinga is calling for a new bat after four balls at the crease. Tahir, with an excellent 3-26 so far, comes on. Short, wide and flat-batted straight to cover.
37th over: Sri Lanka 133-9 (Malinga 3, Chameera 2) We’re back underway with Morkel bowling to the new man Malinga, who is batting like a proper no 11/Stuart Broad, backing away to leg. He clubs one down the ground, cross batted and in the air, where it plugs. It’s fielded and thrown back in to the bowler’s end and from there, Morkel hurls it down the other end gets a direct hit. We’re checking it upstairs, but it looks like De Kock knocked the bails off with his glove before the ball hit. Not out, anyway. It was a no-ball too, so there’s a free-hit, and Chameera clubs it for two.
Restart in five minutes.
It looks like that was a very brief downpour: the covers are coming off so we should have news of a restart time soon enough. Can’t imagine they’ll lose any overs.
There is a reserve day, just in case they don’t get back out.
SL 127-9. But it has rained in a knockout game in a World Cup in Australia. South Africa will therefore need 851 to win, off 12 overs.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) March 18, 2015
Rain stopped play Sri Lanka 127-9
Oh, that’s come out of nowhere. With any luck this is just a passing shower. No, Sri Lanka, it’s not cowardly.
It’s absolutely belting down anyway, so I’m going to grab a drink and cry over the fact that Kumar Sangakkara has probably just walked from the crease for the last time.
Wicket! Sangakkara c Miller b Morkel 45
That’s that then. A well-directed bouncer from Morkel and it’s cut straight down third-man’s throat.
36th over: Sri Lanka 127-8 (Sangakkara 45, Chameera 0) Er, it’s the powerplay. Abbott is back on and Sangakkara needs to go for it now, surely? This has been a stunning display of bowling after being put in the field. Kumar cuts to backward point for four, then chips over point for a couple more. Backs away and mullers the penultimate ball through mid-on for another boundary, then slices the final one over cover point for one more.
“What’s going on with the Lankans today?” asks James Lane. “Are we allowed to use the c-word? Maybe the pitch is a touch stickier than it looks – all the batsmen except Thirimanne have struggled to get off the square – but this is a shocker from the men in blue. If they’re lucky they’ll scrape to 200.” The South Africans used the new ball brilliantly and there’s a bit of grip in the pitch for the spinners, yup.
35th over: Sri Lanka 116-8 (Sangakkara 34, Chameera 0) Duminy removed Mathews with the final ball of his eighth over and then strikes with the first two balls of his ninth. Double-wicket maiden, to boot.
@DanLucas86 Oh dear, I had rather high hopes for Sri Lanka, looking for another 300+ score. Not today. #SLvSA
— Mystère_Cygne (@Mystere_Cygne) March 18, 2015
Yeah it’s going to be the mother of all chokes now, isn’t it?
Wicket! JP Duminy has a World Cup hat-trick! Kaushal LBW b Duminy 0
Duminy is on a hat-trick here. Oh and he’s got it! The ball spins back in a fraction and pins the debutant on the back foot, right in front of middle.
Wicket! Kulasekara c De Kock b Duminy 1
Another straight, quick one from the spinner brings another wicket. The faintest of edges from Kulaseakara, well taken by De Kock and the batsman walks, sent on his way with just a small nod of the head.
34th over: Sri Lanka 116-6 (Sangakkara 34, Kulasekara 1) Tahir returns and strikes straight away, his slider edged to the keeper, who in turn parries it to slip. Kulasekara comes in.
“I don’t want to criticise a genuine great,” begins John Collins, before doing exactly that. “But isn’t Sangakkara being a touch selfish here? His risk-free crawling is putting real pressure on the other batsmen. Now watch him go on to belt a quick double century.”
I don’t think it’s so much selfish as stuck. He was put under pressure by the two early wickets of the openers.
Wicket! T Perera c Rossouw b Tahir 0
Perera goes for a blob, edging to slip.
33rd over: Sri Lanka 114-5 (Sangakkara 33, T Perera 0) There are Now That’s What I Call Music compilations with greater fluency than this. A flat, quick one for Duminy takes the edge of Mathews’ bat and runs down to third man for one. Then Mathews plays his first shot in anger and perishes.
Updated
Wicket! Mathews c Du Plessis b Duminy 19
Mathews, under pressure thanks to Sanga’s slow scoring rate, dances down the track and looks to clobber it from outside off and over mid-wicket. He doesn’t get enough height on it though and Faf takes his third catch.
32nd over: Sri Lanka 109-4 (Sangakkara 31, Mathews 16) There’s a shout for LBW against Mathews from Steyn, but it’s passing a good six inches over the top of middle. One apiece from the over, to Mathews. This really is stodgy stuff: South Africa’s over rate has been about as disappointing as Sri Lanka’s run-rate.
31st over: Sri Lanka 107-4 (Sangakkara 30, Mathews 15) Duminy comes back on, presumably to see us through to the powerplay. Not sure about that decision as Morkel was looking mighty threatening. Just two off the over and I should mention just how excellent South Africa’s fielding has been today: very excellent, I’d say. There you go, mentioned it.
30th over: Sri Lanka 105-4 (Sangakkara 29, Mathews 14) Going for the kill now as Steyn (5-2-13-1) comes back. He really does have awful hair though, it looks like a disheveled version of a certain man who caused some trouble across Europe in the 1930s. De Villiers, I think, looks for the run-out with a diving underarm throw from mid-off when Sangakkara looks to dash through for a quick single, but (a) they were safely home and (b) he missed the stumps anyway. He bangs one in short for Mathews, but the batsman’s pull to mid-wicket isn’t timed and only yields the one run. A very elegant push through cover point then brings the same result for Sanga.
29th over: Sri Lanka 102-4 (Sangakkara 27, Mathews 13) Sanga pushes a single to cover to bring up a, shall we say, pedestrian team hundred. This is the longest it’s taken for them to reach three figures in the tournament. Mathews gets tucked up by a short one and wears it on the finger, so on comes the physio. When we resume, Mathews gets a thick leading edge to a lifter that falls just wide of the diving Rossouw at mid-wicket. Sterling effort though from the fielder.
28th over: Sri Lanka 99-4 (Sangakkara 25, Mathews 12) Tahir continues into his seventh over and Mathews picks a slower, fuller delivery off middle stump and lumps it over cow corner for a one-bounce four.
I just don't want it to end like this for Mahela... #CWC15 #SAvSL
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) March 18, 2015
I think even South Africans are in two minds over this one.
27th over: Sri Lanka 93-4 (Sangakkara 24, Mathews 7) We’re going back to pace. Or rather, South Africa are, as Morkel comes back in. I always liked his brother, who seems to be going well in South African domestic cricket. He also looked like Quentin Tarantino. Sangakkara drives a single to point, then Mathews turns a short one around the corner for a couple more. One more for the captain, again to fine leg, and a dot to finish.
26th over: Sri Lanka 89-4 (Sangakkara 23, Mathews 4) At one point does Sangakkara decide to attack then? He’s 23 from 67 as Tahir sends down yet another impressive over. Impressive is the word I’d use to describe his World Cup stats, too.
Imran Tahir in World Cups [#CWC11 & #CWC15]: 103.3 overs 6 maidens 423 runs 27 wickets #CWC15 #SAvSL #SA #SL
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) March 18, 2015
25th over: Sri Lanka 87-4 (Sangakkara 22, Mathews 3) Duminy continues and Mathews pushes him down the ground for one. The big TVs here at Guardian Towers have the Jeremy Kyle show on them now. Does anyone know how I turn them off?
24th over: Sri Lanka 84-4 (Sangakkara 21, Mathews 1) Like Courtney Love, Sri Lanka are in (a) hole. The captain comes to the crease with his team in desperate need of him.
“If they are eliminated, is that it?” asks Rohit of Sangwardene. “Do SL have any ODI scheduled this year before Sangakarra retires?” Nope, he’s calling it a day immediately after this World Cup. And, the way things are going, after this match.
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Wicket! Jayawardene c Du Plessis b Tahir 4
Quick, straight and skiddy from Tahir and Jayawardene is hurried, pulling meekly to mid-on. Faf takes a dolly.
23rd over: Sri Lanka 81-3 (Sangakkara 19, Jayawardene 4) A late cut and Sangakkara at the non-striker’s end sets off for a run with his partner ball-watching. Rossouw doesn’t gather it cleanly though and they get the single.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 77-3 (Sangakkara 17, Jayawardene 2) De Villiers might consider bringing Steyn back now to have a go at the new batsman, but there is this to consider:
Saffers struggling with the over rate and ABDev on a final warning. Duminy running through his overs.... #cwc15 #savsl
— Innocent Bystander (@InnoBystander) March 18, 2015
There’s a huge shout for LBW against Jayawardene, but it looks to have hit him outside the line of off. They’re reviewing but on first viewing I think this is a waste. Yeah it’s umpire’s call. Interestingly we can hear the voice of the third umpire.
21st over: Sri Lanka 76-3 (Sangakkara 16, Jayawardene 2) Duminy opens with a couple of leg-side wides. As Tom Moody points out, leg stump is a very negative line given that Sri Lanka are so far under the cosh. Jayawardene pushes it out to deep mid-wicket for one, then Sangakkara pushes an inside-out drive down to long-off for the same.
20th over: Sri Lanka 72-3 (Sangakkara 15, Jayawardene 1) These two need to put on a partnership, or else it’s the last we’ll ever see of them together. A couple of leg-byes down to fine leg, then Tahir gets one to turn past Mahela’s outside edge. He really does have a dreadful record against Tahir, out three times in 25 balls. He knocks a single to mid-wicket here for one.
“An early low scoring rate and and yet it’s so different if its Sangakkara, not Bell,” writes Ian Forth. “It’s like the difference between going to Waitrose and Morrison’s and finding they’ve sold out of bread. With Waitrose, you think – should have got here earlier, their bread is so good, it’s sold out. With Morrison’s it’s more like - I can’t believe they’ve been so incompetent as to not order enough bread.”
Wicket! Thirimanne c & b Tahir 41
Ooh the set batsman goes! Tahir just holds back on the speed a touch, Thirimanne looks to work him into the on-side and gets a leading edge that loops back to the bowler.
19th over: Sri Lanka 69-2 (Sangakkara 15, Thirimanne 41) Duminy strays on to the pads and Sangakkara turns him to long-leg for a couple.
On Twitter, my colleague Geoff Lemon has put in some outstanding work looking for the record number of runs in a five-match period, for Kumar Sangakkara to chase down:
@mattharris_au @DanLucas86 Ok, Gibbs made 482 in four innings in 2002 against Kenya, India and Bangladesh. Sanga 450 from his previous 4.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 18, 2015
@mattharris_au @DanLucas86 Take Gibbs to a fifth innings and it's 497. So Sanga would need 48 today to beat that.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 18, 2015
@mattharris_au @DanLucas86 Saeed Anwar 443 in 5 knocks in 1993, Sanga's just past that.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 18, 2015
@DanLucas86 @mattharris_au Give me an excuse... Zaheer Abbas had 428 in 5, in 1982/3. Only other close one I've found.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 18, 2015
@DanLucas86 @mattharris_au Ah, there's another. Rohit Sharma made 481 in 5 around his double-century very recently.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 18, 2015
18th over: Sri Lanka 64-2 (Sangakkara 12, Thirimanne 39) Sangakkara misses out with a sweep as Tahir sends a big wide down the leg-side. We’re into the boring middle overs, but after this stodgy start, Kumar can’t really afford for them to be boring. Thirimanne edges, but there’s no slip in place and it’s down to fine third man for three.
17th over: Sri Lanka 58-2 (Sangakkara 11, Thirimanne 35) Duminy offers Thiriamanne some width and he flashes it away to mid-off for a single. Sangakkara takes a single, then his partner pushes down the ground for another. Not the most eventful over, I’ll admit.
Updated
16th over: Sri Lanka 55-2 (Sangakkara 10, Thirimanne 33) Dual spin is the way South Africa want to go as Imran Tahir comes into the attack. He gives Sangakkara a mighty big fright here with a straight one that fizzes past the outside edge. Sangakkara, bored, responds with a big swing over fine-leg, that bounces safely just inside the rope and bounces over it for four. That’s the 50 partnership too.
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Matt Harris writes: “‘I’ve just realised, I genuinely have no idea what day of the week it is.’ I can say with confidence that some of us are trying not to think about it Dan. Thanks for reminding me that it’s only bloody Wednesday.”
Sorry Matt. But you’re in Australia. What on earth is it here? Wednesday? Tuesday? Is it Wednesday and we still count this as Tuesday? I DON’T KNOW.
15th over: Sri Lanka 50-2 (Sangakkara 6, Thirimanne 32) We’re going to have a bit of spin, but it’s Duminy rather than Tahir coming on. You would assume that’s because of the two left-handers at the crease. A nice little bit of drift, he’s pitching it on leg-stump but there’s not much by way of turn. One from the over.
@danlucas86 Thought SL were 50:50 as they batted first, but am not so sure now. SA to win their first knockout match at the World Cup?
— Ravi Nair (@palfreyman1414) March 18, 2015
They look good for it, although these two look a lot more comfortable now especially with Thirimanne scoring at better than a run a ball (at the start of the over anyway). That’s the actual drinks break. Sorry, I got it wrong earlier. And might have missed four balls when I went to the bathroom.
14th over: Sri Lanka 47-2 (Sangakkara 5, Thirimanne 30) I’ve just realised, I genuinely have no idea what day of the week it is. Or the date. This is what late nights at Guardian Towers will do to you. Especially when you walked to Kings Cross from London Bridge at 1am. Anyway, one pushed into the on-side off the back foot for Thirimanne, then Sanga cuts straight to point. On the bounce though.
“You really feel that all Sangakkara needs to do is just stay there and weather the new ball storm,” suggests Honor Harger. “His patience is really commendable.” Yep. Unlike, say, Ian Bell, you’re not worried if his scoring rate is slow at the beginning.
13th over: Sri Lanka 46-2 (Sangakkara 5, Thirimanne 29) After a drinks break, Morkel returns and will not be happy to see De Kock concede four byes. He didn’t really have a chance as the short ball swung way away from him. That’s it for the over.
12th over: Sri Lanka 42-2 (Sangakkara 5, Thirimanne 29) A change of bowling as Abbott returns for Steyn. Thirimanne times a lovely shot to cover but Duminy dives and makes an excellent stop on the edge of the circle to save four. He then opens the face and gets a thick outside edge through down to third man for another. Safe shot now that the second slip has been taken out. Sangakkara then pushes nicely through extra cover, with excellent timing, to get three runs that take him to 501 in the tournament at 125.25
11th over: Sri Lanka 38-2 (Sangakkara 2, Thirimanne 28) This is, according to the stats people on the telly, the lowest powerplay score this World Cup for Sri Lanka. Morkel goes very wide down the leg-side and it snakes away from De Kock allowing the batsmen to jog through for an extra run. Thirimanne then runs through for a hairy single to mid-off, with De Villiers’ throw narrowly missing the stumps. Think he would have been home anyway. Then an inside edge loops up off Sanga’s pad but drops short of the man at gully.
“Greetings Dan,” writes Abhinava Bhattacharyya. “Sangakkara 2 off 22. I’m waiting for the moment when I look to check again and he’s silently sidled his way to 45 off 46.” He’ll have some catching up to do; he’s two from 27 now.
10th over: Sri Lanka 35-2 (Sangakkara 2, Thirimanne 27) Two more to Thirimanne, pushed out into space at mid-on. Steyn will be bending his back and throwing everything into getting another wicket in this spell, just to ensure that Thirimanne’s strokeplay doesn’t ease the pressure. He carves one unconvincingly over extra cover and it runs away for four more. The batsmen exchange singles to complete the over and indeed the powerplay.
Welcome back to the OBO, Gary Naylor!
@DanLucas86 Someone should tell Sanga that his next job is playing in England not for England,
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) March 18, 2015
9th over: Sri Lanka 27-2 (Sangakkara 1, Thirimanne 20) Morkel, bowling round the wicket with two left-handers at the crease, is bowling back of a length and getting it to rear up around the batsman’s throat. When he goes fuller he very nearly has Thirimanne, who drives square, aerially and just wide of Duminy diving one-handed to his left at backward point. The ball flies away for four runs. Full again next ball and this one is carved, far more convincingly, over cover for four more. A push down the ground brings one more.
8th over: Sri Lanka 18-2 (Sangakkara 1, Thirimanne 11) Steyn is back on and has changed ends.
Steyn coming back on. He has touched his neck 7 times since his last spell. The physio 4 more times.
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) March 18, 2015
What a contest this has the potential to be, Sangakkara v Steyn. The former is in incredible form but looking awkward out there, while the latter hasn’t been at his best and looks pumped, to the point where he’s hurt himself celebrating. “Sangakkara has responded with a couple of beautiful strokes,” says commentary’s Mark Nicholas; this is an absolute lie – he’s strokeless, has played zero aggressive shots and has one from 16 balls. Make that one from 22 as he plays out another maiden.
7th over: Sri Lanka 18-2 (Sangakkara 1, Thirimanne 11) With Dale Steyn off having treatment, Morne Morkel is brought on a few overs earlier than we might have expected, to bowl to Sangakkara. I’m going to revise my prediction of a Sri Lanka win, I think, because there’s a huge amount of pace, bounce and carry, especially for someone of Morkel’s height. Sangakkara finally gets off the mark from the fifth ball, tucking it off his pads to fine-leg for a single. A wild bouncer down the leg-side and it’s a front-foot no-ball too. Morkel has had problems with his front foot in the past, of course. Thirimanne can’t connect well enough with the free-hit and it dribbles into the on-side for no run.
6th over: Sri Lanka 16-2 (Sangakkara 0, Thirimanne 11) After that, Steyn, who went a bid mad celebrating the wicket and may have strained his neck in that, is going off for a bit of treatment. For now though, Abbott continues. He swings one back into Thirimanne and the left-hander just caresses it into the on-side for a couple, before thumping a drive through cover for the first boundary of the day when the bowler overpitches it. Ooh and the next ball brings a repeat as Abbott goes too wide.
Dale Steyn, ladies and gentlemen.
This is S̶p̶a̶r̶t̶a̶ South Africa! #CWC15 #SAvSL #SA #SL pic.twitter.com/uREqEkSNvW
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) March 18, 2015
5th over: Sri Lanka 6-2 (Sangakkara 0, Thirimanne 1) Dilshan falls to the first ball of the over and you feel that one more wicket will leave Sri Lanka in a mighty big hole. Thirimanne pulls square for a single and finally we get a run off the face of the bat, then Steyn wings one down the leg side. He’s holding the back of his neck now, which is a worry. Sangakkara though, nought from 11 balls, is becalmed, he wrote, using the word correctly this time.
Wicket! Dilshan c Du Plessis b Steyn 0
Dilshan goes! A very quick, good length ball from Steyn gets fractionally bigger than Dilshan expected and takes the edge to slip.
4th over: Sri Lanka 4-1 (Sangakkara 0, Dilshan 0) A lovely ball from Abbott that swings away and leaves Sangakkara past the outside edge. At which point a big chunk comes out of the ball and they’ll change it for a brand new one. This new one is swinging an absolute mile! The first delivery goes the wrong way though, down the leg-side for a wide. A big shout then from the third ball as it thuds into Sangakkara’s pad, but there’s no review as it was probably going over the top. That’s the only run from the over and this is a brilliant start from South Africa: the only runs have been the wide and three off the edge.
Correction, Kusal could've been out 7 times in 10 balls. 4 plays and misses, 2 edges through slips, plus the edge to w-k that got him out.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) March 18, 2015
3rd over: Sri Lanka 3-1 (Sangakkara 0, Dilshan 0) Dilshan faces his first ball with a man already back in the hutch and he makes an unconvincing start: his first ball loops lazily in the air but reaches extra cover on the bounce and his second is a leading edge, along the ground, to the same area as he looks to clip it into the on-side. A lovely over this from Steyn and when the batsman does connect he can’t time it. Six dots and that’s a second maiden in a row.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 3-1 (Sangakkara 0, Dilshan 0) It will be Kyle Abbott from the other end. He starts with a good, full delivery that swings just a touch back into the left-hander. Don’t expect that movement to last long here. He then beats Perera, who is looking to thwack everything, with consecutive deliveries outside off-stump. Then, ironically in a fashion, it’s the defensive prod that brings about the batsman’s downfall; it’s a really good line though from the bowler. Out comes that guy. Swoon.
Wicket! K Perera c De Kock b Abbott 3
A nice ball on a good length holds its line and takes the edge as Perera plays with a straight bat and De Kock takes a good catch, diving to his left.
1st over: Sri Lanka 3-0 (K Perera 3, Dilshan 0) So a new opening pair for Sri Lanka and one that can pack a fair old punch at that, with Kusal Perera coming up to the top of the order from number six. Steyn takes the first new ball, obviously. He starts wide outside off-stump and it’s left alone by the left-handed Perera. Tighter next up and it’s driven to cover for no run, before Perera has a big ol’ swing that connects with nowt but air. The opener gets off the mark with a big slash that takes the edge and flies over slip for a couple down the third man. Another big edge from the final ball and it flies through the vacant gully region for one more.
Not sure I've ever seen such a nervous looking SA side. Almost want to say to them: Relax, have fun, enjoy yourselves. Smile #cwc15
— Firdose Moonda (@FirdoseM) March 18, 2015
On the initials front, Rohit points out: “SL win hands down over everyone in that regard, no competition whatsoever there.” Anyway, the players are out now.
It’s that time. Dear god that bass is something else.
A real email, too. “If in doubt, go by the number of initials in the team lists,” suggests Allan Mulle. “Based on that, Sri Lanka should win handsomely 34 to 18.” I can’t believe that, at this hour, you took the time to count them up.
“Dear Dan,” writes ‘Tim Welsh’. “You have not paid for driving on a toll road. You are kindly asked to pay your debt as soon as possible. You can review the invoice in the attachment.”
Nice try. I live in London, don’t tend to leave London and can’t drive anyway.
On Sky, VVS Laxman notes that South Africa need more from Dale Steyn with the new ball; he’s only taken eight wickets at 28 in this tournament so far. Jacques Kallis reckons that South Africa can chase up to 270, VVS reckons that Sri Lanka need 300-325. I’m leaning toward’s the latter’s analysis on this pitch.
Meanwhile, from my Antipodean counterpart Russell Jackson:
KP on Tahir: "You've gotta play him like an off-spinner with a big googly." Recently retired players do sometimes make the best analysts.
— Russell Jackson (@rustyjacko) March 18, 2015
Here’s what Warney thinks. Nope, I can’t envisage South Africa ever having any problems in a run chase. None at all. There is no precedent.
Massive toss won by SL, SA would've wanted to bat first. FYI, SA has never won a knockout game in an ICC major tourny, Is today the day ?
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 18, 2015
I’m going for Sri Lanka, by 16 runs. South Africa appear to only have four bowlers there, plus Duminy and, er, De Villiers. Here are your teams in full:
South Africa: HM Amla, Q de Kock†, F du Plessis, RR Rossouw, AB de Villiers*, DA Miller, JP Duminy, DW Steyn, KJ Abbott, M Morkel, Imran Tahir
Sri Lanka: MDKJ Perera, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara†, DPMD Jayawardene, AD Mathews*, HDRL Thirimanne, NLTC Perera,KMDN Kulasekara, PHT Kaushal, PVD Chameera, SL Malinga
The toss
Angelo Matthews calls heads, heads it is and he decides Sri Lanka will bat first. Not a surprise, that. Tharindu Kaushal, the mystery spinner, comes in for Herath and will make his ODI debut. No pressure there then.
South Africa have left out Behardien as Du Plessis returns. They’ve also dropped Vernon Philander and picked Kyle Abbott, which is a surprise.
The conditions
It’s Sydney, so it’s hot and sunny and will remain that way all day. The humidity level is 51%, so that may offer the tiniest bit of swing for Philander and Steyn, but it’s a hard, dry track that looks a belter for batting on. Big totals ahoy.
You know what? I’d like Sri Lanka to go through, because I’m really going to miss these guys once their tournament is over.
20 - Sangakkara and Jayawardene need to put on 20 runs to become the second pair after Ganguly and Tendulkar to put on 6,000 ODI runs. Team.
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) March 18, 2015
Preamble
Morning folks. It’s back it’s back it’s back! The cricket is back! I don’t know about you, but it’s been weird having just a couple of days off, seeing the Cricinfo widget on my phone blank when I wake up.
As noted in Vic’s preview below, this is the serious stuff, the knockout rounds. As we know what’s at stake, there seems little point in writing a preamble about that. Instead, let’s talk schisms, chasms, great yawning divides, because the pool stages of this World Cup highlighted one dramatically. Not that between the associates and the full members, the haves and have nots, but rather the Test playing nations who are pretty good at this ODI lark and those who are not.
If the likes of Ireland, the UAE, Scotland and Afghanistan are still a way behind, then there is an equal gap between the good sides – New Zealand, Australia, India, South Africa and Sri Lanka – and the rest – Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, the West Indies and that other one that was bloody awful. Set A will think nothing of waltzing past 300 in the 43rd over and adding another 80 runs; Set B will pat themselves on the back and think job well done if one player gets 110 at a run a ball.
So here we have two Set A teams, making this the juiciest of the quarter-finals. It means that the very end of this tournament, its last three matches, are shaping up to be just a wee bit good. This is after a pool stage that was far better than any of us expected it it be: in The Spin yesterday, Andy Bull wrote about being in a minority when it comes to liking the Cricket World Cup but I, an ODI sceptic, have thoroughly enjoyed this one. Whisper it, but it may just be that the ICC have done a decent job when it comes to restoring the reputation of this much-maligned tournament (for now anyway, let’s just ignore the elephant in the 10-team room).
So this is quite the curtain raiser, with Sri Lanka having to make do without the injured Rangana Herath, who has a bad finger...
...which is a huge disadvantage given the questions over their pace bowling. South Africa on the other hand will have to decide between Rilee Rossouw and Farhaan Behardien – which doesn’t sound like much of a decision at all to me – given that Faf Du Plessis is back to match fitness and will presumably return.
Whisper it, but I don’t think South Africa are very good. Amla, De Villiers and Steyn are outstanding, but other than that their lineup looks a little thin. I’m backing Sri Lanka, who feature a batting god looking for a record fifth hundred on the bounce, to nick this one. Is there anyone more beloved in world cricket than Kumar Sangakkara? His brilliance, his impeccable cool... he’s the cricketing version of Jeff Goldblum, isn’t he?
Play begins at 3.30am GMT, which is 2.30pm local time in Sydney, 9am in Colombo and 4.30am in Cape Town. I’ll bring you toss news and team news in half an hour or so.
Dan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Vic Marks’ preview:
Now, at last, for the serious stuff, when the delicious intensity of knockout cricket comes to the fore. It may be that some of the batsmen will not be quite so gung-ho, while funky captains will think a little longer before stationing that third or fourth slip. It’s sudden death and it does not matter much how invincible the sides have seemed during the pool games. One slip and the dream is shattered.
The hardest quarter-final to call is the first one on Wednesday in Sydney, where Sri Lanka play South Africa. Run through the lineups and it may be that South Africa look stronger man for man, especially when examining the second half of the scorecard where the bowlers reside. Yet there remains that nagging statistic for South Africa: they have never won a knockout match in the World Cup, dating back to their first appearance in 1992, although they were a tad unlucky with the rain and the rules in their Sydney semi-final against England 23 years ago.
Marvan Atapattu, the former opening batsman who succeeded Paul Farbrace as the coach of Sri Lanka, is too polite to mention the C word (“choking”, that is). But it may not have been entirely accidental he should highlight the steeliness of his team. Atapattu is confident his players will rise to the occasion in a manner that has often eluded South Africa in the later stages of these tournaments.
“I’ve been with these players for four years now and we’ve come to so many big tournament matches where we have to win,” he said. “I’ve seen people raise their game and I’ve seen people raise the whole team. I see no difference this time so I have confidence in these guys doing it again. When it comes to pulling together and working towards a common goal we’re among the best. They know how to cope with the pressure.”
