Chandimal cameo still not enough to stop sloppy South Africa

(ESPNCRICINFO) – Dinesh Chandimal’s career-best 66* and five dropped
catches by South Africa could not stop Sri Lanka from falling 28 short in a chase
of 164 in the opening T20I. On a slow surface, Sri Lanka did not get off the
starting blocks quickly enough, absorbed too many dot balls and eventually left
themselves too much to do at the end. They needed 69 runs off the last five
overs but lost three wickets for nine runs in the space of eight balls between the
end of the 15th over and the start of the 17th and could not keep up with the
required run rate.
Two of South Africa’s three spinners, Bjorn Fortuin and Keshav Maharaj,
conceded at six runs an over or less but Tabraiz Shamsi had an off day and only
delivered two overs for 20 runs. Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Dwaine
Pretorius formed a well-functioning pace pack though South Africa will not be
happy with their clumsiness in the field. Although all the chances put down were
not entirely straightforward, on another night, not being as sharp as they could be
may cost them.
They will be happier with the batting effort. With a line-up that appears a batter
short, South Africa’s top five did not have an individual half-century between
them but all contributed to get to a par score. Quinton de Kock and Reeza
Hendricks shared an opening stand of 73 before a mini collapse of 3 for 14.
Then, Aiden Markram and David Miller put on 65 off 35 balls for the fourth wicket,
and scored the bulk of the 56 runs South Africa got in the last five overs to give
their bowlers a decent total to defend.
Wanindu Hasaranga was the most threatening of the Sri Lankan attack, which
included seven bowlers. But he did not have much support. Chamika
Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera and Akila Dananjaya were all expensive
and Sri Lanka did not contain as well as they would have liked to.
Poor reviewing from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka were understandably eager to get de Kock out as quickly and cheaply
as possible and reviewed the fourth ball of the match. Chameera hit de Kock on
the knee roll of the front pad as he missed a flick but his appeal was turned
down. Dasun Shanaka reviewed with three seconds left on the clock and replays

showed the ball was pitched well outside leg stump and de Kock was not in any
danger of being dismissed.
Until the next ball. Chameera delivered a yorker outside off, de Kock tried to dig it
out, the bat hit the ground and there seemed to be an edge. Chandimal
appealed, Chameera appealed and Shanaka, who had wasted a review the ball
before, was unsure and chose not to go upstairs. Replays showed de Kock had
hit the ground but also edged and would have been out if Shanaka reviewed. de
Kock was on 4 at the time and went on to score 36 off 32 before slog-sweeping
Hasaranga to deep midwicket.
Markram makes his mark
In a squad packed with openers, and with the injured captain Temba Bavuma
expected to be fit for the T20 World Cup, competition for places in the top three is
fierce but Markram has made sure he should be in there. His improvements
against spin have been evident since South Africa toured Pakistan earlier this
year and were on display again in this match.
Markram navigated four tricky overs in the middle section of the innings before
unleashing a slog sweep off Dananjaya to breach the boundary for the first time.
He went on to play a cheeky reverse-paddle that beat the wicketkeeper for four
and hit a straight six off a slower ball to give South Africa their most profitable
over – 17 runs – in the 18th over, off Karunaratne. Markram was dismissed in the
penultimate over but played a big part in South Africa’s last five-over blitz.
Markram is South Africa’s top scorer in T20Is this year, so far, and fourth overall.
Living dangerously in the powerplay
Chandimal, on his return to the side, approached the chase with immediate
urgency and survived several risks in the first six overs. There was the single off
Fortuin when Chandimal tapped the ball into the covers and ran, and made it to
the non-striker’s end just in time. There was the leading edge off Rabada that
three fielders converged for at deep point but Markram could not hold on.
And there was the pull off Rabada that came off the bottom edge of the bat and
fell short of Nortje at mid-on. But the first time Avishka flirted with danger, he was
dismissed. He played a Rabada offcutter to mid-on and called for the single,
Nortje swooped in and got a direct hit at the bowler’s end, along with Avishka not
reaching his bat out, and found him short of the crease. Sri Lanka finished the
powerplay on 34 for 1, well short of South Africa’s 47 without loss. Chandimal
went on to score 50 off 40 balls and finish unbeaten.
Maharaj magic
Things keep getting better for Maharaj, who made his T20I debut as captain and
then took a wicket with his first ball. He struck Bhanuka Rajapaksa with a delivery
that turned into him from outside off and had reason to celebrate when

Rajapaksa was given out on-field. Rajapaksa reviewed but replays showed the
ball was clipping leg stump on umpire’s call.
Rajapaksa racked up a third duck in his last three innings – two in the ODIs and
one here – and Maharaj became the fourth South African, after Andre Nel,
Alfonso Thomas and Rory Kleinveldt to take a wicket with his first ball in T20Is.
Maharaj is also only the second captain after Paras Khadka to take a wicket with
the first ball on his captaincy debut.