Blow by blow: Sri Lanka make meal of low chase but prevail in 2nd T20

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Sri Lanka innings:

20th over: Mathews is dropped off the first ball of the over but hits two sixes to seal a first win of the tour. Well done, brave captain. He ends with 54*. Sri Lanka home by three wickets.

19th over: Angelo Mathews rolls over his ankle completing a quick single and can hardly stand on two feet. But he’ll have strike for the final over. SL 107/7. They need 7.

OUT! What are Sri Lanka doing?! Poor from Tshikila de Silva, splices a pull when he really only needed to give the strike to his captain. SL 105/7.

18th over: Run-a-ball for Sri Lanka, who still have their captain present. Surely that is enough for the visitors? SL 102/6.

OUT! This game is still on! Smuts back in the attack. Prasanna goes for the long hop but he doesn’t get enough on it and Imran Tahir takes a splendid catch on the square leg boundary. SL 97/6.

17th over: It’s getting tight as the tourists require 17 from the last 3 overs. Still favourites. SL 97/5.

16th over: Tahir finishes with 1/14. Good day’s work again.

OUT! Tahir bowls the googly out of the hand and Gunaratne misses it. The fingers goes up for LBW. The Proteas cling on but Mathews is still there. SL 93/5.

15th over: Ngidi finishes with 4/19. Magnificent effort. SL 89/4.

OUT! It’s that man Ngidi again! Farhaan Behardien brings him back for a last ditch intervention and he delivers. Chandimal edges behind. All four wickets now for the youngster. SL 86/4.

14th over: Jon-Jon Smuts’ first over in international cricket is a decent one but there’s no pressure on Mathews and Chandimal. SL 83/3.

13th over: Mathews strikes a majestic driven six off Phangiso, who’s been miserly but not threatening. He finishes with 0/24 off his four. SL 78/3.

12th over: Andile Phehlukwayo isn’t having the best of days. He concedes 9 on his return as Sri Lanka get back on track. SL 67/3.

11th over: Chandimal and Mathews now trying to improvise as the noose tightens. Will something give soon? SL 58/3.

10th over: Sri Lanka stutter to 53/3 at the halfway stage of the innings. But with wickets in hand, they remain favourites.

9th over: And Phangiso does the same, conceding two in his second over. Are the Islanders becoming twitchy? SL 49/3.

8th over: Tahir keeps up the pressure with tight bowling. But Sri Lanka have time to see him off. SL 47/3.

7th over: Aaron Phangiso’s first over is also typically steady. South Africa are trying to hang in but they need wickets. SL 45/3.

6th over: Imran Tahir’s first over flies by. He only concedes three. SL 38/3.

OUT! Move over Kagiso Rabada! Lungi Ngidi has a third. He’s troubled Dickwella with his pace and then put one wider, which the left-handed opener edges. South Africa are still in this! 35/3.

4th over: Nilushan Dickwella, who impressed with a nice knock in Centurion, is at it again. He hits Andile Phehlukwayo for three consecutive fours in his first over. SL 32/2.

OUT! Two in three balls for Lungi Ngidi! Kusal Mendis smashes the 20-year-old quick for four the previous ball but disappoints with his shot selection as he’s castled. Poor. SL 15/2.

OUT! Ngidi strikes! Tucks De Silva up with extra bounce, who can only fend it to David Miller at square leg. SL 11/1.

2nd over: Wayne Parnell adapts poorly to the surface, gifting two boundaries with easy-going deliveries. Sri Lanka get some momentum. SL 11/0.

1st over: This pitch won’t help Lungi Ngidi but he keeps it tight. Only concedes 2 in his first over. Heino Kuhn narrowly misses a run out opportunity. SL 2/0

Proteas innings:

OUT! Phangiso holes out in the outfield. It’s the lowest total at the Wanderers in an international T20. SA 113.

OUT! Kulasekara castles Imran Tahir. It’s all downhill for the Proteas. 109/9.

OUT! Good bowling from Udana. He adapts his length by keeping it shorter and Behardien can’t quite drive through the off-side. Instead, he feathers it. SA 107/8.

17th over: Behardien and Aaron Phangiso have been sensible here. They take the Proteas past 100 and might get them to a competitive target of 125. SA 105/7.

15th over: Farhaan Behardien is hanging in there. Hits two boundaries off Gunaratne. SA 91/7.

14th over: South Africa again show they don’t handle exotic spin all that well. Sandakan ends with 4/23 in his spell. SA 82/7.

OUT! Another shocker! Andile Phehlukwayo also tries a reverse sweep and is caught. Four on debut for Sandakan! SA 74/7.

OUT! What is Parnell thinking? He tries a reverse sweep and is caught at slip. Really not the type of shot that’s appropriate in this situation. SA 74/6.

11th over: Wayne Parnell plays a strange dab that’s almost snaffled by Mathews. SA 71/5.

OUT! Huge wicket for the Islanders! Dhananjaya de Silva comes on with his off-spinners, takes on away from Miller, who edges a slog sweep. Brilliant bowling change. SA 68/5.

10th over: Halfway stage in the innings. South African might need to revise what they thought a good target might be. 150 on this surface looks competitive. SA 68/4.

9th over: The blow of Kuhn’s wicket is softened a bit by David Miller’s powerful sweep for four. Maybe you can read Sandakan (sort of). SA 63/4.

OUT! Heino Kuhn had just hit a splendid six off Sandakan but doesn’t read the follow-up delivery and is stumped. The Proteas now in some difficulty. SA 57/4.

8th over: This is definitely not an easy surface to bat on. The ball is stopping, making timing difficult. SA 51/3.

7th over: South Africa clearly are struggling to read Sandakan, whose action is quite unique. SA 46/3.

OUT! The chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan bowls a rank wide but Mosehle has a nibble nonetheless and gets an edge. It would’ve been a wide if he had left it! SA 41/3.

6th over: Heino Kuhn finally provides a bit of impetus for the Proteas. He strikes Prasanna’s first ball for a six and then smashes a skilful four over extra cover. 41/2 in the powerplay.

5th over: The frustration continues for the South Africans as they stutter to 26/2. Mosehle hits another boundary but there’s not much scoring in between.

4th over: Mangaliso Mosehle finished the Centurion game with a strike rate of 600! He continues that with a boundary. SA 20/2.

OUT! Theunis de Bruyn also holes out at square leg, though he wanted to play the scoop. This is a strange tactic from the Proteas but definitely borne out of frustration. SA 16/2.

3rd over: Sri Lanka’s approach has been simple, they’ve given no width and it’s forcing the Proteas to improvise. SA 13/1.

OUT! Smuts definitely became bogged down, tries a clip to leg outside off-stump but he finds short fine leg. SA 5/1.

1st over: Good first over from Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews. Jon-Jon Smuts played a nice pull for four but no runs added to that boundary. SA 4/0.

14.06: The Proteas remain unchanged from Friday’s win in Centurion: Kuhn, Smuts, De Bruyn, Miller, Behardien, Mosehle, Parnell, Phehlukwayo, Phangiso, Tahir, Ngidi.

14.05: Welcome to our coverage of the 2nd T20 between the Proteas and Sri Lanka at the Wanderers. Farhaan Behardien has won the toss and elected to bat first.

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