Chandimal’s ODI captaincy record is at 2 and 0 after Sri Lanka overcame another subpar performance by South Africa in their rain affected encounter at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Sri Lanka batted first once again, after Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and decided to take first lease of a pitch that was much slower than it was for the first match. Saturday’s Superman Kumar Sangakkara was needed to save the day much earlier than on the earlier occasion, as Upul Tharanga fell cheaply in the third over. He immediately added stability to the innings, playing an unhurried innings and appearing at ease against the Proteas’ dual spin attack. There was to be no repeat of his previous heroics though, as he fell against the run of play, holing out to extra cover on 37 after failing to get to the pitch of a flighted delivery by Aaron Phangiso.
TM Dilshan appeared frustrated at first, as he failed to keep the scoreboard ticking as he normally likes, but he settled down to play an uncharacteristically watchful innings, forming a stand of 40 with Mahela Jayawardene. Boundaries were hard to come by and there was a period of 36 balls in their stand where not a single one was hit. Both batsmen perished in quick succession and it was left to the young middle order to steady the ship and guide the innings to a close.
Stand in Captain Dinesh Chandimal gave a small tasting of why he is so highly rated by the powers that be in Sri Lanka Cricket. On a surface where batting was laboured, he weathered a rain interruption to top score with a well crafted 43. At the other end Lahiru Thirimanne’s struggles with the bat intensified and Jehan Mubarak had yet another disappointing stint at international level. Chandimals contribution however, ensured that the Lankan score was pushed up to 229 before yet another rain interruption ended their innings 4 balls short of the full quota.
While the South Africans had markedly improved from their ragged performance in the first game, especially in their fielding, they will know that they have quite away to go in the other two aspects of the game. One of their major concerns will be the discipline of their bowlers, as far too many bad balls were bowled, which allowed the pressure built on the batsmen to be released.
The prolonged rain interruption meant that South Africa were set a target of 176 in 29 overs. Their ambitions were setback severely before their innings even started as they once again found themselves without Hashim Amla; this time due to an injury sustained while fielding. In his absence, Robin Peterson was sent in as a makeshift opener. He failed to last even the first over though, before a full in swinging delivery by Lasith Malinga disturbed his stumps.
JP Duminy and Alviro Petersen then showed there class, hitting some delightful shots in a 32 run stand. That partnership was broken however, by some good bowling by Thisara Perera, who managed to extract a lot of movement off the surface and had Duminy edge one through to Sangakkara.
Sri Lanka’s spinners then accounted for three quick wickets, Rangana Herath trapping Petersen in front before Dilshan had AB De Villiers LBW after a good review. Herath then claimed his 50th wicket, getting Faf Du Plessis to nick one behind, and at 69 for 5 the Proteas were all but out of it.
The rain returned to the R Premadasa grounds again, and play was called off after the 21st over with South Africa 17 runs behind the Duckworth and Lewis score. While their batsmen have been out of form and unable to cope against the Lankan bowling, they will also be ruing the 14 wides they sent down while bowling, especially when considering the margin of defeat. For Chandimal and Sri Lanka however, the fairytale continues, and with Angelo Mathews returning to the side for the next game, Sri Lanka can afford to be very optimistic about the rest of the series.
