Kaushal Silva ton leads SL to series win

Sri Lanka A 301 for 6 (Kaushal Silva 126, Kandamby 88, Mbhalati 4-58) beat South Africa A 220 (Bodi 74) by 81 runs
Scorecard

Kaushal Silva made an express 126 to set up Sri Lanka A's comfortable 81-run win over South Africa A in Bloemfontein, a deviation from the trend in the previous three matches which were all closely fought. The victory gave Sri Lanka an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

After Sri Lanka chose to bat, their openers Upul Tharanga and Tharanga Paranavitana began well, adding 52 in eight overs for the first wicket. But fast bowler, Ethy Mbhalati's triple-strike in the space of 13 runs helped South Africa take the initiative. Silva and his captain Thilina Kandamby (88) refused to get bogged down and put on 210 at more than a-run-a-ball to wrest the advantage before Mbhalati struck for the fourth time to dismiss Kandamby.

Sri Lanka's fast bowlers too responded well, with Chanaka Welegedara capturing two wickets in the third over. Opener Gulam Bodi and Henry Davids added 44 for the third wicket, but the introduction of Rangana Herath's left-arm spin triggered a middle-order collapse where South Africa lost four wickets for 16 runs in five overs. South Africa slumped to 76 for 5, and as in the previous game, there was little support for Bodi, who hung on to make 74. He managed to stitch together 52 for the sixth wicket with Daryn Smit, and 44 for the eighth with fast-bowler Juan Theron but with too few wickets in hand, South Africa never realistically had a chance of reaching the target.