After skipper Angelo Mathews’ unbeaten 97, Akila Dhanajaya’s six-wicket haul led Sri Lanka to victory in the fifth and the final ODI against South Africa by 178 runs on Sunday at Colombo. With this performance, Sri Lanka ended up losing the series 2-3.
Earlier this day, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. With some phenomenal knocks from Niroshan Dickwella (43), Kusal Mendis (38) and Mathews, the hosts piled up a competitive score of 299 runs at a loss of 8 wickets.
Mathews slammed 11 boundaries and 1 six during his 97-ball stint at the crease.
In return, the Proteas failed to withstand Dhananjaya’s superb bowling and got all-out for 121 runs in 24.4 overs.
Stand-in captain Quinton de Kock scored a 57-ball 54 and remained the highest scorer from the South African Side. Apart from de Kock, Aiden Markram (20), JP Duminy (12) and Kagiso Rabada (12) were the only players who scored in double digits while rest of the rest couldn’t contribute enough to save the last ODI of the 5-match series.
Dhananjay bagged the man of the match award for his match-winning performance. He leaked just 29 runs in 9 overs and removed six batsmen to take the game home. On the other hand, Lahiru Kumara bagged 2 wickets while Suranga Lakmal and Dhananjaya de Silva claimed 0ne wicket each.
This defeat turned out to be the third worst ODI defeat for South Africa. There previous two came against Pakistan by 182 runs against Pakistan in 2003 and by 180 against Sri Lanka in 2013.