- It was the 1604th ODI in cricket history.
It was Sri Lanka's 326th and South Africa's 198th match in
ODIs.It was the 17th meeting between these two sides. Sri Lanka has won
7, South Africa 9, while one match was abandoned.It was the fourth meeting between these two sides in Sri Lanka.
The hosts have won twice, South Africa once, while one match was
abandoned.Sanath Jayasuriya recorded his 15th duck in his 207th match.
With this he equalled Roshan Mahanama's tally of ducks for Sri
Lanka. Now only Romesh Kaluwitharana and Arjuna Ranatunga (18
ducks apiece) are ahead of Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka.Kumar Sangkkara (85) scored his maiden fifty in his second match.
His innings is the highest by a Sri Lankan 'keeper against South
Africa. This obliterates the previous highest of 57 by Lanka de
Silva at Lahore on 06-11-1997.Sangakkara's innings is also the second highest for Sri Lanka
against South Africa after Arjuna Ranatunga's 93* at Port
Elizabeth on 13-04-1998.Sangakkara's innings is also the highest by a wicketkeeper on
his first appearance against South Africa. The previous highest
was England's Alec Stewart's 77 at Melbourne on 12-03-1992.The partnership of 120 runs between Sangakkara and Russel
Arnold is Sri Lanka's best for fifth wicket against South Africa.
This obliterates the 107 (unbeaten) runs stand between Arjuna
Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama at Port Elizabeth on 13-04-1998. Sri Lanka's total (249-7) is its second highest against South
Africa. However the highest for Sri Lanka against South Africa
still remains as 258 (in 47.5 overs) at Nottingham on 14-08-1998.
Incidentally Sri Lanka's previous lowest against South Africa at
home soil was 198 for 9 (in 50 overs) at Colombo RP on 04-09-1993.The partnership of 150 runs between Gary Kirsten and Alex Hall is
South Africa's best for opening wicket against Sri Lanka. This
obliterates the 90 run stand between Kepler Wessels and Andrew
Hudson at Colombo RP on 02-09-1993.The partnership was eighth highest for South Africa for first
wicket in all ODIs. Interestingly Kirsten has been involved on
all but one occasion. The details :
235 Herschelle Gibbs/Gary Kirsten v India Kochi 09-03-2000
190 Gary Kirsten/Mike Rindel v Pakistan Jo'burg 12-01-1995
186 Gary Kirsten/Andrew Hudon v Holland Rawalpindi 05-03-1996
176 Gary Kirsten/Herschelle Gibbs v New Zealand Birmingham 10-06-1999
168*Gary Kirsten/Herschelle Gibbs v India Sharjah 22-03-2000
156 Andrew Hudson/Gary Kirsten v England Centurion 14-01-1996
151 Kepler Wessels/Andrew Hudson v England Melbourne 12-03-1992
150 Gary Kirsten/Alex Hall v Sri Lanka Galle 06-07-2000
Note : Though 174 runs were added for the first wicket against
Zimbabwe at Nairobi Gymkhana on 28-09-1999, it consisted of two
separate partnerships. Herschelle Gibbs added 125 runs with Lance
Klusener before retiring hurt. Klusener and new batsman Kallis, then,
added 49 more runs.
The partnership is the second highest for first wicket and
fourth highest for any wicket against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
Interestingly all other three higher partnerships for opening
wicket have been made by Indian batsmen - 252 for first wicket by
Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar for first wicket at Colombo
RP on 07-07-1998, 223 for fifth wicket between Mohammad Azharuddin
and Ajay Jadeja at Colombo SSC on 17-08-1997 and 162 for third
wicket between Robin Singh and Rahul Dravid at Colombo SSC on 23-
08-1997.It was also the 12th Century partnership for first wicket for
South Africa, which involved Gary Kirsten. He has now equalled
Australia's Mark Waugh, Pakistan's Saeed Anwar and India's Saurav
Ganguly's tally of century partnerships for first wicket. Only
West Indians Desmond Haynes (26) and Gordon Greenidge (18) and
India's Sachin Tendulkar (16) have figured in more century stands
for first wicket than Kirsten.South Africa's total (212) is the lowest all out total ever in
ODIs to include a 150 run stand for opening wicket. The previous
lowest was England's 242 (in 54.2 overs) against Australia at The
Oval on 06-06-1977. England's innings included 161 run stand
between Dennis Amiss and Mike Brearley.Upul Chandana (4-44) became fifth Sri Lankan to capture a four
wicket haul in a match against South Africa. Others to do so for
Sri Lanka against South Africa are: Sanath Jayasuriya (4-53 at
Colombo RP on 02-09-1993), Champaka Ramanayake (4-17 at Colombo
RP on 04-09-1993), Kumara Dharmasena (4-37 at Port Elizabeth
on 21-12-1994) and Muttiah Muralitharan (4-35 at Nairobi on 01-
10-1996).Kumar Sangakkara won his maiden Man of the Match award.
He became 30th Sri Lankan to win a MoM award.