SL VS SA T20I

That concludes the proceedings for this match. Yet another one-sided game and South Africa have bagged the series. They will be very pleased to gain this momentum ahead of the T20 World Cup. For Sri Lanka, the never-ending rebuilding phase continues. Their batting lacks the desired fire and it's proving to be a massive issue for them going into the mega event. There is one more game left in this series and it will be played on Tuesday, 14th September 2021. It will be a 7 pm local start (1.30 pm GMT) but you can join us in advance for the build-up. Cheers!

For his delightful display with the ball in hand, where he never let any Sri Lankan batter settle down, Tabraiz Shamsi has been named as the Player of the Match!

Sri Lanka will be very disappointed at the moment. They won a good toss on a pitch conducive for spin bowling. The Lankan batters showed better intent and the scorecard read 52/2 at the end of the Powerplay. It appeared that the hosts would come up with a total big enough to crush South Africa with their army of spinners but the Sri Lankan innings nosedived. They collapsed in a heap and got bundled out for just 103. The spinners did rule the roost in this match but they were from the African camp. Bjorn Fortuin, Aiden Markram, Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj made full use of the conditions and played a vital role in helping South Africa to an unsurpassable 2-0 lead in the series.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Yup, it's that easy for the Proteas. Their spinners did the bulk of the damage by restricting Sri Lanka to just 103 and then their openers provided them with a perfect start. Usually, a small chase proves to be tricky and with the spinners ruling the roost in favourable conditions, South Africa were also supposed to dance to the tunes of the Lankan spinners but nothing of that sort happened. Quinton de Kock's presence at the crease never allowed any pressure to build and it was an easy march towards the target for the touring team despite a brief break due to rain.

FOUR BYES! That does it. South Africa have crossed the line and they win the series too via byes. Praveen Jayawickrama serves this flatter and around middle and leg, skidding down, Quinton de Kock looks to reverse sweep but misses and the keeper is not able to stop the ball too as it races away to the fine leg fence. SOUTH AFRICA WIN BY 9 WICKETS AND CLINCH THE SERIES!

FOUR! 100 up for South Africa. Fuller in length and around off, Markram presses forward and drills it down the ground. The field is up at mid off and it's a boundary.

Loopy and outside off, de Kock plays it late and taps it down to short third man for a single.

Skidding down the leg side, de Kock goes back to work it away but it goes off the inner half to short fine leg. They take a couple.

Identical to the last delivery, this time Aiden uses his feet to run down the track and eases it to long on for a single.

Full and floated on middle, Markram gets forward and works it off his pads to mid-wicket.

Uppish but wide of extra cover! Flighted and around off, de Kock drills his drive through the line to wide long off for a single.

Fuller and off, slower in pace, Aiden is on the front foot as he pushes it defensively to covers. 12 needed more.

On middle, it's tucked around the corner for a single at square leg.

A touch short in length on middle, de Kock gets back and works it in front of square leg for a couple of runs.

FOUR! What a lovely shot! Quinton de Kock brings up his fifty, his 10th in T20Is and first against Sri Lanka. He has been in some form for some time now. Just extending it forward. Fuller and around off, de Kock has enough space to free his arms as he rifles his drive through extra cover for a boundary.

Short again, on middle, Aiden moves back and punches it down to long on for a single.