Veteran batsmen Faf du Plesis and Hashim Amla saved their best for last to steer South Africa to only their second victory at the ICC World Cup Friday, a crushing nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street.
After the bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to a paltry 203 all out, du Plesis just missed getting to his century with 96 while Amla hit 80 as both men shared in an unbeaten 175-run second wicket partnership to secure only the win with 12 overs to spare restore some South African pride.
The loss dented Sri Lanka’s hopes of advancing to the playoff phase. They remained on six points and on the 10-team table, which means fourth-placed England (8 points) and joint fifth-placed teams Bangladesh (7 pts) or Pakistan (7 pts) still have better chances of moving on.
Sri Lanka could still possibly reach the semis, but need victories in their remaining group games against West Indies and India next week and will also need other results to go their way.
Australia (12 pts) and New Zealand (11) meet in a top of the table clash Saturday. Unbeaten India are second on the 10-team table with 11 points but with a better net run rate than the Kiwis.
Earlier, recalled all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius bagged three wickets for 25 runs as South Africa's bowlers delivered by far their best performance of the tournament to restrict the Sri Lankans to an under-par score.
Coming on as a first change bowler, Pretorius broke a key 67-run second-wicket partnership between Avishka Fernando and Kusal Perera, who both got to 30, on his way to the most economical figures of the tournament. He bowled Fernando in the 10th over then had Perera caught by du Plesis two overs later and also added the wicket of Kusal Medis (18) for good measure.
Chris Morris also returned figures of three wickets for 46 while opening bowler Kagiso Rabada chipped in with two for 36.
SUMMARISED SCORES
SRI LANKA 203 (50) (Avishka Fernando 30, Kusal Perera 30, Dwaine Pretorius 3/25, Chris Morris 3/46, Kagiso Rabada 2/36) v SOUTH AFRICA 206-1 (37.2) (Faf du Plesis 96, Hashim Amla 80, Lasith Malinga 1/47)
Result: South Africa won by nine wickets
