AB De Villers star in South Africa's win over Sri Lanka

After a rain delay of almost two hours, Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayewardene and Proteas skipper AB de Villiers walked out to the center for the toss. It was much anticipated Group C game despite the fact that the result of the match bore no consequence to the outcome of the positions of the teams in the group.

In view of the rain, Jayawardene decided to bowl first after winning the toss, with the match reduced to seven overs per side. The Proteas’ batsman clobbered Sri Lanka’s bowlers all over the park right from the word go. The hosts’ bowlers never looked like threatening the South Africans, as they were not hitting the deck on a continuous basis. When a four had been struck, the pressure started to mount on Sri Lanka, and as a result their bowlers started bowling too many loose deliveries, which the Proteas made the most of.

When you talk about the nature of the surface, it was a good track to bat on. If the rain wouldn’t have come, then it would have been a different bat and ball game. The surface was ideal for both the sides as the Proteas had a superb pace-attack, which was equal to Sri Lanka’s sturdy batting order. However, after the rain the wicket was bit damp and was expected to help the fast bowlers under the lights. The fast bowlers would indeed get a bit of swing, and Sri Lanka’s promising bowlers Kulasekara, Perera and Malinga were estimated to provide break-throughs. However, they did not utilize the conditions properly as they bowled too many full tosses and short-balls, which South Africa exploited to their maximum advantage.

As Amla drove two full-length deliveries off Lasith Malinga to extra cover for fours, it was clear that the Proteas had come out with a fixed target in mind. The innings was superbly finished by Abraham De Villers who scored a fine 30 runs of 13 balls, with three fours and a six.

South Africa ultimately ended their innings at 78 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Sri Lanka had to attack right from ball number one, but never looked like winning, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Whenever their batsman tried to hook or pull the ball, they ended up getting out. Sri Lanka’s most-anticipated batsman Dilshan was unfortunately run-out without facing even a single delivery, which set the tone for South Africa. Thereafter, Sri Lanka were never able to progress with the chase, and in the end fell 32 runs short.

South Africa’s brutal pace-attack once again got the ball to swing in both ways, which eventually made life difficult for Sri Lanka’s batsman. Steyn grabbed two wickets while Kallis and Botha scalped one each.

South Africa and Sri Lanka both qualify for Super-Eights. However, South Africa’s bowling attack is one-dimensional, which could be a big disadvantage for them. If Steyn fails to deliver on the big occasions, then South Africa can fall flat. Their pace attack will be really tested in Super Eights, where they meet the high-quality sides!