South Africa v Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I - 5 Talking Points

The third and final T20I between South Africa and Sri Lanka promised to be an absolute thriller. The stage was set for the series decider after Sri Lanka had managed to upset the hosts in the previous game by 3 wickets. The win the second T20I was their first win on the tour after facing four straight defeats across the two formats of the game. Coming into the final game, there was a contrasting build up for both sides. South Africa were sky high on confidence after they received a big boost in return of AB de Villiers. ABD was set to make a comeback in South African colors after almost 6 months.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka were dented with injuries to Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Pradeep and Danushka Gunathilaka. Dinesh Chandimal, the stand-in skipper, had a point to prove too. Coming into the game, the Proteas skipper Farhaan Behardien won the toss and opted to bat first. South Africa piled up a decent 169/5 in their 20 overs riding on comeback man AB de Villiers’ 63. The run chase for Sri Lanka revolved around Niroshan Dickwella’s well compiled fifty. However, it was the Seekkuge Prasanna show towards the end that won the match and thereby the series for Sri Lanka.

Here are the 5 talking points from the game:

1. South Africa openers get a decent start

The new-look South African lineup had largely failed in the T20 series thus far. The first match saw senior players come to the rescue of the team and the second match saw an absolute batting collapse. Coming into the third game, the Proteas openers put on a much-improved effort at the top of the innings.

JJ Smuts and Reeza Hendricks added 36 runs in 26 balls for the opening stand. Smuts could not get going and was the first to get dismissed. He scored 19 off 14 balls. Hendricks, on the other hand, looked solid for his 34-ball 41. Hendricks hit four boundaries in his knock and also shared a key partnership with AB de Villiers after the departure of Smuts.

2. Comeback man arrives in style

AB de Villiers stepped into the match with a big reputation and he did not let his fans down by even one bit. AB walked to the middle after the departure of JJ Smuts. He added 71 runs for the second wicket with Reeza Hendricks. In the process, he notched up his half century on return. AB finished with a brilliant 63 off mere 44 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name.

Despite a middle-order collapse that saw David Miller and Farhaan Behardien score 1 and 6 respectively, South Africa managed to finish with 169 runs on the board. The much-needed impetus was provided by Mangaliso Mosehle who scored 32 off just 15 balls with a four and 3 sixes.

3. Dickwella plays the anchor role

Sri Lanka had a stiff task ahead of them chasing a daunting total against Proteas bowling line up. Opener Niroshan Dickwella played a very sensible knock at the top order – the kind of knock the team craved for throughout the tour. While other batsmen played around him, Dickwella kept going strong in his anchor role. He saw batsmen falling from the other end but did not let that affect his mindset.

He notched up a well deserved fifty. It was only unfortunate that he could not finish the game for his side. He was dismissed on 68 off 51 balls with 10 fours and a six. He was dismissed in the 16th over of the run chase when Sri Lanka needed 54 off 28 balls.

4. Imran Tahir gets South Africa back in the hunt

With Niroshan Dickwella playing the anchor knock, the scorecard kept ticking. The hosts were in a spot of bother as they saw the score move constantly. One bowler, however, was hard to get away with for the visitors. Imran Tahir bowled a magnificent spell on the day that almost sealed the match for the Proteas at one stage.

Tahir, when introduced to the attack, got rid of the Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal straightaway. They had Dhananjaya de Silva stumped on 19. Later, he came back to dismiss the set batsman Niroshan Dickwella for 68. His quota of 4 overs yielded just 18 runs and he bagged 3 key wickets. He had the best economy rate in the match.

5. Seekkuge Prasanna – The Superhero of the match

Seekkuge Prasanna came, he saw and he conquered. He did what he has been doing all this season. Prasanna had come into the series riding on herculean knocks in the Bangladesh Premier League, where he had bludgeoned the bowling attacks single-handedly to win matches for his side. He did exactly that when he came in to bat on the day.

Prasanna came in to bat after the set batsman Dickwella perished. Not many gave Sri Lanka a chance with over 50 runs needed in the last 4 overs. Prasanna clobbered the Proteas bowlers to ensure Sri Lanka wins the match by 5 wickets and seal the series 2-1. Prasanna hammered 37 off just 16 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 231.25. He was the difference between the two sides on the day.