Tillakaratne Dilshan scored his 17th one-day international century and shared a second-wicket stand of 184 with Kumar Sangakkara to guide Sri Lanka to a series clinching eight-wicket win over South Africa in the fourth match at Pallekele on Sunday.
The hosts were outplayed in the third match two days ago at the same venue, but came back strongly with a clinical performance with bat and ball to take a 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Man-of-the-match Dilshan paced his innings expertly, finishing unbeaten on 115 off 130 balls, while Sangakkara made 91 off 101 balls as Sri Lanka successfully chased down South Africa’s total of 238 with six overs to spare.
Photo: AFP
Sangakkara was out going for his century, miscuing a drive off Morne Morkel to mid-off with his side 10 runs from their target.
He had a life on 33 when South Africa decided not to review an LBW shout off J.P. Duminy. Replays indicated the ball, which struck the batsman in line with the stumps, would have hit leg stump.
Sangakkara cashed in on his luck, but fell short of what would have been his 17th one-day hundred.
South Africa looked headed for a total close to 300 when they were 172-3 at the halfway mark, but lost their way as the Sri Lanka spinners took control.
South Africa lost their remaining seven wicket for 62 runs, with Ajantha Mendis (4-51) the chief destroyer.
Hashim Amla, who missed the first and third matches through injury and could not bat in the second, hit a fluent 77 off 71 balls, while Duminy was last out for 97.
He lashed seven boundaries and two sixes before he was dismissed in the 49th over, bowled by unorthodox spinner Mendis three runs short of a century.
The pitch had lost pace since the last match, making batting easier, and the Sri Lanka batsmen capitalized on the conditions.
“We were about 30 runs short,” South Africa captain A.B. de Villiers said. “It was a great knock there by J.P. because there was a lot more turn in the pitch, but credit to both Dilshan and Sangakkara for the way they batted. Our boys have fought hard and we want to win the last game.”
The fifth and final match will be played in Colombo tomorrow.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB