Sri Lanka v South Africa, 2014
Wisden's review of the second ODI, Sri Lanka v South Africa, 2014
15-Apr-2015
At Pallekele, July 9, 2014 (day/night). Sri Lanka won by 87 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka.
Amla was at his sublime, free-scoring best, but a second successive hundred was not enough to secure the series. It was the first of his 14 one-day international hundreds not to lead to a South African victory. In the face of a vastly improved Sri Lankan attack, only de Villiers had the patience to spend any time in Amla's company; the rest folded tamely in a flurry of ambitious and prematurely aggressive strokes. Dilshan had made a flying start, enjoying fortune against Steyn: he tasered the second ball of his third over back at his bowling hand with sufficient power to remove him from the attack (although Steyn did later re-emerge to bat for almost an hour). Dilshan was on course for a sixth hundred in 11 one-day international innings at Pallekele until he was bowled sweeping off his glove. On a blameless surface, Sri Lanka subsided, although it didn't prove costly. Nor did the four runs denied them on a DRS-related technicality: Imran Tahir won an lbw appeal against the sweeping Jayawardene, who successfully overturned it on review because of an edge. The ball had sped away to the fine-leg boundary but, as Jayawardene had technically been out at the time, the runs did not stand.
Man of the Match: T. M. Dilshan.
Amla was at his sublime, free-scoring best, but a second successive hundred was not enough to secure the series. It was the first of his 14 one-day international hundreds not to lead to a South African victory. In the face of a vastly improved Sri Lankan attack, only de Villiers had the patience to spend any time in Amla's company; the rest folded tamely in a flurry of ambitious and prematurely aggressive strokes. Dilshan had made a flying start, enjoying fortune against Steyn: he tasered the second ball of his third over back at his bowling hand with sufficient power to remove him from the attack (although Steyn did later re-emerge to bat for almost an hour). Dilshan was on course for a sixth hundred in 11 one-day international innings at Pallekele until he was bowled sweeping off his glove. On a blameless surface, Sri Lanka subsided, although it didn't prove costly. Nor did the four runs denied them on a DRS-related technicality: Imran Tahir won an lbw appeal against the sweeping Jayawardene, who successfully overturned it on review because of an edge. The ball had sped away to the fine-leg boundary but, as Jayawardene had technically been out at the time, the runs did not stand.
Man of the Match: T. M. Dilshan.