Twitter Reactions: South African batsmen surrender as Akila Dananjaya spins a web
South Africa won the series by 3-2.
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If India are being humbled at the Lord’s by England with extreme seam and swing, Sri Lanka have thumped South Africa with spin yet again. In both the matches, the batsmen have surrendered abjectly without putting up any fight whatsoever. Akila Dananjaya bowled an exceptional spell and took a six-wicket haul as the opposition batsmen never got going in the steep chase of 300 runs in Colombo in the final ODI of the series.
The off-spinner opened the bowling as the pitch got slower and slower in the first innings itself. The demons in the visitor’s minds woke up it seems which they had dumped after the Test series. None of the batsmen apart from their skipper Quinton de Kock looked confident in the middle and surrendered to some brilliant spin-bowling from the mysterious bowler.
However, it all started with Suranga Lakmal castling Hashim Amla in the very first over which was followed by a flurry of boundaries thanks to Aiden Markram. But the sixth over of the innings turned the tide for the home side as Dananjaya came to the fore and dismissed Markram and Reeza Hendricks off the consecutive deliveries. He pinned Heinrich Klaasen in front of the stumps to leave them reeling at 39/4 in no time and since then it was all one-way traffic.
De Kock fought bravely with a half-century but even he was sent back the off-spinner before which JP Duminy was dismissed by Dhananjaya de Silva. They continued to fall like nine pins and were eventually bowled out for 121 runs to lose the game by a massive 178 runs. Dananajaya was exceptional with the ball in hand as he returned with he figures of 6/29.
Mathews leads with the bat
After opting to bat first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka’s woes continued at the top of the order. Upul Tharanga’s dismal series finally ended even as Kusal Perera also followed him soon. Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis then stitched a partnership to bring things back on track. But both of them failed to convert starts and at 142/4, one felt they will once again put up an under-par total.
But their captain Angelo Mathews dug in for the umpteenth time in his career and played a rock solid knock. He put up important 50+ stands first with De Silva and then with Thisara Perera and made sure his team stayed abreast with the total of 300. In the end, wickets kept falling but he also didn’t let the run-rate go down and eventually propelled Sri Lanka to 299/8 in 50 overs.
Unfortunately, Mathews couldn’t complete the well-deserved ton and remained unbeaten on 97 off the same number of deliveries with 11 fours and a solitary six. In the end, his innings proved gold for his team as they registered one of the biggest victories against South Africa.
This is a huge win for the hosts and though they’ve lost the series, the team will take a lot of heart from this performance. The visitors, on the other hand, would also be happy that they won the series but will leave the country with more questions than answers as far as their bench strength is concerned.
Here’s how Twitter reacted during the game:
Good job boys!
Comprehensive victory by Sri Lanka!
Cant wait for the Asia Cup! #SLvSA
— Sakun Sankalana (@Sakun_SD) August 12, 2018
#SLvSA Seems like I made a good choice skipping the Proteas batting performance.
— Carl Lewis (@Carl_LewisZA) August 12, 2018
Don't expect a lot from SA batsmen, they know how to donate wickets. #SLvSA #ProteaFire
— ♛The Trillest King♛ (@TumediTreezy) August 12, 2018
Brilliant win by Sri Lanka. Mathews, Akila brilliant. Two outstanding team efforts to make it 3-2 after being 0-3. Add Danushka & Asela to this batting lineup for Asia Cup. Played Sri Lanka. #SLvSA #LKA
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) August 12, 2018
Proteas… spin making you all look stupid… Again! #SLvSA
— Craig Clarke (@clarkyc79) August 12, 2018
#Proteas you may have won the series (still wondering how it happened 🤔) but rerigwaar, you actually lost the entire tour to #SriLanka Nothing to look forward to come #CWC2019 #SLvSA #SSCricket @OfficialCSA
— Mike M (@mikeymuller73) August 12, 2018
Great Comeback by Srilanka to win the last two games and end the Odi series on a +ve Note !#SLvSA
— Niranjan 🎧 (@Kohli_Prabhas) August 12, 2018
Super Druper from Lions 🦁!!!
Keep the momentum up!
Congratulations @OfficialSLC #slvsa pic.twitter.com/6VsUwxfe7c— 🇱🇰 (@DulithK) August 12, 2018
This SA Side Is Very Beatable, SL Should Be Disappointed #SLvSA
— Chatil Panditasekara (@ChatilPandi) August 12, 2018
Been a Dananjaya kinda day huh #SLvSA
— 💜 (@JoBhejiThiDuaa) August 12, 2018
No spin tracks in first three ODIs? #SLvSA
— @Beingyuvian- (@beingyuvian12) August 12, 2018
End is nigh 😇
If team #SriLanka has played with same intensity they could have easily win this #SLvSA series— Pavitra Gunasekara 🇱🇰 (@PaViYaz) August 12, 2018
While we are Winning, India is getting hammered at Lords #SLvSA #EngvInd
— Irosh Jayarathna (@IroshJ) August 12, 2018
SA all out for a 121. Absolutely pathetic batting performance. Bowling was equally poor. Just a terrible game. SL deserved winners. Series ends 3-2 #SLvSA
— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) August 12, 2018
Do we really need to play Chandimal in T20s??? 😁😁😁😁 #SLvSA
— Guess Who (@Hiroshana_) August 12, 2018
Wow! Batters struggling to read Akila Dananjaya
He has so many variations and is difficult to pick up
great talent #SLvSA— Natalie Germanos 🏏 (@NatalieGermanos) August 12, 2018
We might have won the series but we are losing the last 2 matches terribly #SLvSA
— Helga Acker (@helga8816) August 12, 2018
Even though RSA have won this series but
Rsa ODI team is still Nowhere near to be contenders for World Cup(Unlike last times)Way too many questions ahead of them & Also Poor team selections that might cost them big time.#SLvSA
— Pankaj Nautiyal (@NautiyalG___) August 12, 2018
Only Pakistan can clean sweep Srilanka in 5 match ODI series. JUST SAYING. #SLvSA
— Usama 🍂 (@usamaa_akbar) August 12, 2018
Proteas what is this? #SLvSA
— Naeemah (@NaeemahBenjamin) August 12, 2018
What A Win. Well Played Boys! #SLvSA
— Nalin K. 🇱🇰 (@CrazyNalin) August 12, 2018
@OfficialCSA
I shame on myself for watch your today match. #SLvSA #Unexpected— TENBAR (ASHRAFUL) (@AshrafulZaman10) August 12, 2018
Chris Woakes – 137 not out
Indian 1st innings – 107 all outAngelo Mathews – 97 not out
South African team – 97/8 #SLvSA #ENGvIND— Sakun Sankalana (@Sakun_SD) August 12, 2018
5 wicket haul for @imakila4
What a star 🔥#SLvSA 🇱🇰— මනූ ධීරසේකර (@manurad9) August 12, 2018
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