South Africa down Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in World Cup warm-up
Christchurch, Feb 9 - South Africa put up a dominating show to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a warm-up match of the 2015 ICC World Cup at the Hagley Oval here on Monday.
Put in to bat, Sri Lanka posted a competitive 279 for seven, courtesy of Tillakaratne Dilshan's century and a half-century from Angelo Mathews, after a lengthy spell of rain curtailed the innings to 44.4 overs.
South Africa, who were set a revised Duckworth-Lewis target of 188 in 25 overs, cantered to a five-wicket win despite a late wobble.
Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock gave South Africa a dream start, adding 106 in just 15.1 overs before Rangana Herath drew first blood.
De Kock, who scored a 55-ball 66 with six fours and two sixes, edged to Dimuth Karunaratne. Amla, leading the side in the absence of AB de Villiers who sat out due to a sore hip, followed soon after, falling to Herath's guile for 46.
What looked like a cruise came to a halt as Sri Lanka struck back with two quick wickets for just three runs.
Herath got rid of JP Duminy for 17 while Nuwan Kulasekara got the better of David Miller. Although Faf du Plessis also fell early, Rilee Rossouw and Vernon Philander shared an unbroken 21-run partnership to take South Africa across the line with three balls to spare.
Barring Herath, none of the Sri Lankan bowlers could create an impact. Returning from injury, Lasith Malinga snared one for 29 in his four overs while Kulasekara took one for 18 in two overs.
Earlier, Sri Lanka got off to a shaky start, losing Lahiru Thirimanne early. But Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara took control with a healthy 76-run stand before Sangakkara was dismissed for 31 by Imran Tahir.
Dilshan, then, shared a 74-run third wicket partnership with Karunaratne (46) to take Sri Lanka past 150. He brought up his century along the way, his fourth in eight matches, from 82 deliveries before he was out next ball.
Mathews, the captain, then scored a half-century before rain forced the end of the Sri Lanka innings. Kyle Abbott was the pick of the South African bowlers, taking 3 for 37 from 6.4 overs while Wayne Parnell returned wth figures of 2 for 44.
Sri Lanka will take on Zimbabwe in their second warm-up match in Lincoln on Wednesday.