Johannesburg: Dwaine Pretorius’s 77 runs off 42 balls were the basis of South Africa’s victory over Sri Lanka.
A tour that started with an unexpected Test series triumph ended with a second successive limited overs series humiliation for Sri Lanka when South Africa won the third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.South Africa made a daunting 198 for two and Sri Lanka were beaten by 45 runs according to the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method when they were bowled out for 137 as they chased a reduced target of 183 in 17 overs following a rain delay at the Wanderers Stadium.It completed a 3-0 series sweep for South Africa, who also won a one-day series 5-0.”In home conditions, South Africa are very tough,” said Sri Lankan white-ball captain Lasith Malinga, who only joined the tour after Dimuth Karunaratne led the Test side to a 2-0 series win.Malinga said his side’s inability to make early bowling breakthroughs, together with their own poor top-order batting, had been the main reason for their defeats.” Going forward we realise what we need to do,” he said.South Africa’s match-winner on Sunday was all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius, who took advantage of a promotion in the batting order with a power-packed innings of 77 not out off 42 balls.He followed up by breaking a rapid Sri Lankan first-wicket partnership of 42 when he trapped Dhananjaya de Silva with his first ball.Opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella raced to 38 off 22 balls and Isuru Udana played another hard-hitting lower-order innings, before Sri Lanka lost their last four wickets for no runs. (AFP)
