SA go from fridge to fireplace - and win

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Christchurch

IT was cold enough in Christchurch on Monday to freeze an egg on the pavement. But SA felt the heat in the kitchen that Hagley Oval became in their World Cup warm-up game against Sri Lanka.

Much of the match meandered between bouts of miserable drizzle. Then, when SA resumed with all 10 wickets standing and needing 72 more runs off the last 10 overs, the game went from the fridge to the fireplace.

Five wickets fell for 51 runs in 45 balls before Rilee Rossouw and Vernon Philander nailed down the win with three balls to spare.

More important than the result was the fact that SA renewed their acquaintance with their old enemy, the stuff they did not have to deal with through most of their home series against West Indies this summer: pressure.

SA were also given a taste of the difficult conditions they could face in half of their six group games at the World Cup, what with the wind threatening to blow their bowlers into the nearby Avon River and their fielders forced to find a way to catch and throw with hands numbed into blocks of ice.

Sri Lanka totalled 279/7 in the 44.4 overs they faced before rain ended their innings. SA began promisingly when Philander had Lahiru Thirimanne caught behind with the 11th ball of the match, but Tillakaratne Dilshan kept the Lankans going forward with an aggressive 100 off 83 balls.

Experience and a gutsy approach served Dilshan well against SA’s quality attack, which featured eight bowlers because the teams were allowed to use all available members of their squads.

Dilshan shared stands of 76 and 74 with Kumar Sangakkara and Dimuth Karunaratne, and hit 15 fours - four of them off Farhaan Behardien and three off Dale Steyn - and two sixes before he was removed by Kyle Abbott in the 28th over. Angelo Mathews marshalled most of the rest of the innings with a steady 58.

Between them, Dilshan and Mathews reminded SA what it was like to have to deal with batsmen who knew how to attack while also protecting their wickets - a lesson they would do well to learn.

Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock did the Lankans a similar favour in their stand of 116. Neither seemed overly affected by the conditions, with De Kock in particular swinging lustily for his 66 off 55 balls.

But they were dismissed five deliveries apart by Rangana Herath, who completed his raid of SA’s top order by having JP Duminy stumped for 17.

Faf du Plessis’ handy 19 steadied the innings before Philander joined Rossouw for what became a confident finish.

SA will hope for more of the same against New Zealand in their second warm-up fixture at the same venue tomorrow. They will also hope the weather improves.