SA v SL, 4th ODI Review: Du Plessis smashes 185 as South Africa take 4-0 lead

South Africa continued their domination against Sri Lanka as the mighty Proteas defeated the islanders by 40 runs in the 4th ODI at the Newlands in Cape Town to take a 4-0 lead in the 5 match series. This was the first match where the Proteas were pushed to a corner by the visitors but they delivered the goods in the crunch situations of the match and came out with flying colours.

Riding on a brilliant knock of 185 by Faf du Plessis to post a gigantic 367 on the board after batting first. Sri Lanka was in the chase for the majority of the game with openers Upul Tharanga and Niroshan Dickwella proving a terrific start. They resurgence eventually came to an end 40 runs short of the total.

Proteas captain AB de Villiers won the toss and opted to bat. The hosts were jolted early by the dismissal of inform batsman Hashim Amla. The prolific run getter poked at a short of length delivery from Lahiru Kumara only to give an easy catch to the 1st slip fielder. Quinton de Kock was joined by Faf du Plessis in the middle and the duo began the repair work after the early loss. De Kock struck a hat-trick of boundaries of Kumara in the 4th over to set things rolling for the hosts.

De Kock was the aggressor in the opening powerplay as South Africa reached 59/0 at the end of 10 overs. Left-arm chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan was smashed for a couple of fours and a six by de Kock in his very first over. The southpaw finally perished in the 17th over after getting to a brisk half-century.

Also read: Twitter Reactions: South Africa win by 40 runs in a run fest at Cape Town

De Villiers joined du Plessis and the duo rotated the strike along to tick the scoreboard along. They took the occasional risks and it paid off. Though the boundaries dried out in the middle overs the duo played some sensible cricket to reach 190/3 at the end of 30 overs. Du Plessis reached his elusive three-figure mark in the 33rd over as he was congratulated heartily by his partner.

De Villiers gave away his wicket attempting a paddle sweep in the 36th over but du Plessis kept going. He went berserk in the death overs and made his way to a scintillating 185. The powerful striker smashed a couple of sixes and couple of fours of Lahiru Kumara in the 46th over to reach his 150 and followed it up with three more of Nuwan Kulasekara in the very next over. 367/5 was a huge total and South Africa looked the clear favourites in the half-way mark.

Sri Lanka began in a rollicking fashion as captain Upul Tharanga and Niroshan Dickwella looked in sublime touch. Tharanga began with a couple of boundaries in the opening over and Dickwella followed it up with a couple more in the very next over. Duminy was smashed for two sixes by Tharanga as the islanders looked in complete control of proceedings. Sri Lanka raced off to 56/0 in their first 5 overs.

The carnage continued as the visitors reached the century mark in only their 10th over. It was a breathtaking start by the visitors which definitely gave them an outside chance to pull off a miraculous run-chase. Dickwella was finally dismissed in the 16th over by Tabraiz Shamsi after sharing 139 runs stand with Tharanga for the opening wicket. Kusal Mendis joined Tharanga in the middle and the duo kept ticking along the scoreboard.

Also read: All that you need to know about PSL 2017 – Teams, Squads and Fixtures

Tharanga continued his assault on the South African bowlers as he raced his way to his 14th ODI century in a mere 72 balls. His innings was studded with 9 fours and 7 sixes. Mendis was dismissed against the run of play by Wayne Parnell followed by a couple of quite overs. After scoring a brilliant 119 Tharanga too fell prey to Parnell as failed to keep down a short of length delivery from the left-arm pacer.

After the fall of Dhananjaya de Silva’s wicket in the 34th over Sandun Weerakkody was joined by Asela Gunaratne in the middle. The duo batted brilliantly and stitched together a valuable 79 runs partnership for the 6th wicket. Till the duo was there, Sri Lanka was in there with a shout but following their successive dismissals Sri Lanka lost their plot and fell apart. From 307/4, the visitors were bundled out for 327 in the 48th over as the hosts won quite convincingly in the end.

Brief Scores

South Africa 367/5 in 50 overs (Faf du Plessis 185, Sachith Pathirana 2/55)

Sri Lanka 327 all-out in 48.1 overs (Upul Tharanga 119, Wayne Parnell 4/58)

South Africa won by 40 runs