SL VS RSA - Match 35, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

South Africa pull off a South Africa in ICC events. Sri Lanka go back to being a punching bag, once again at just the wrong time. So after a rather monotonous day, where everybody were happy to let things slip along, it's time we head out. I was Vineet Anantharaman bringing you this on behalf of Akshay Maanay, Varun Dikshit, Kumar Abhisekh Das, Hari Sadanandan, Raju Peethala and our scorers, Shashikant Singh and Vinod. Until two of these tomorrow, and hopefully some more contest, ta ta!!

Faf du Plessis | Winning skipper: Long time coming, yeah. It was a good game and we did ourselves justice in all three departments for the talent we have in the dressing room. We've been trying to get Pretorius in but the combinations were really tough, so today he came in place of Lungi and did a very, very good job. We didn't start well once again. The nature of the wicket told me that we needed to bowl straight lines, a consistent top-of-off lines. It looked like the kind of wicket that would be tough with consistent lines and length and that is why I brought Andile on early. It feels bitter-sweet, it doesn't feel like it means that much. It's a little bit too late. The basics of batting were shown today. We've batted well all through the tournament, but we just didn't have guys batting through. Hashim gave us a good foundation, one big partnership makes it look so much easier. We hadn't done that consistently in the tournament. I think Bangladesh was the one that really took the wind out of our sails. England are a very good team and they were too good for us on that day. Bangladesh played an unbelievably good game and that sucker punched us and we almost took the hangover of that game into the next game. The first week really put us back, but we knew that was the case and we can't hide from that.

Dimuth Karunaratne | Losing skipper: I think all departments went wrong. In the batting, Kusal and Avishka batted really well, but we just weren't able to rotate the strike and get singles. That is the key here and when you don't get singles you only go for big shots. Unfortunately, we had only 200 on the board and the wicket was getting better and better after which they batted really well. I felt the wicket was a bit slow, they bowled really well and their fielders in the ring kept the pressure on. They planned really well. We couldn't get the singles and kept looking for big shots. We needed to get early wickets. Malinga started really well, but we couldn't build any pressure from the other end and nobody could get wickets. We have to learn how to build pressure on the batsmen in these kind of tournaments. We need to learn how to get batsmen to make mistakes. We have two matches and we have to beat West Indies and India in both matches. They are tough sides and we have to compete well with them. We have to work hard in all three departments and we would be trying to do well in both matches.

Dwaine Pretorius, Man of the Match: I am happy that we got over the line today and glad that I could play a part in that. (How he prepares when on the bench) Try and work as hard as possible. At the end of the day, I am happy that I was ready for the opportunity and glad that I was able to contribute. I think me and Faf spoke after my third over, we just realised that hitting the top of the off is a good idea on this pitch. Glad that I was able to execute it. Guys are stoked over there, we showed today what we're all about. Just sad that it came only now.

Highest second wicket stand for SA in WCs:
247 H Amla - F du Plessis v Ire Canberra 2015
175*H Amla - F du Plessis v SL Chester-le-Street 2019
170 AB de Villiers - J Kallis v WI Grenada 2007

Highest scores by SA captains in WCs:
162*AB de Villiers v WI SCG 2015
99 AB de Villiers v UAE Wellington 2015
96*F du Plessis v SL Chester-le-Street 2019
91 G Smith v Sco Bassetere 2007

17:37 Local Time, 16:37 GMT, 22:07 IST: This was comprehensive. And this was the South Africa who were expected to turn up a month ago. And these are the colours of confidence the absence of pressure brings out in this bunch of South Africans for some weird reason. Sri Lanka had to win this though to keep their journey to the semis smooth, but South Africa, who are often playing chokers at this stage of the World Cup, have successfully played spoilsports. And how. They were absolutely clinical with the ball all the way through, refusing to let a partnership build up, and then Hashim Amla rediscovered a lost touch in the once mastered art of class-batting to anchor this sub-par chase and ensure that nothing untoward was to happen. Faf played aggressor without looking aggressive, dealing in singles and in well-timed boundaries. If only they'd brought out this version of themselves a couple of weeks ago. If only they'd been given a better schedule. If only ..

Perera to du Plessis, FOUR, swinging down leg, Faf will get a tickle thick enough to beat the diving keeper and run through. So, South Africa finally have something other than embarrassement in a long, long time

Perera to Amla, 1 run, just a tuck off the legs, in front of square. So Faf will have his strike, but not a century

Thisara Perera [5.0-1-23-0] is back into the attack

Udana to du Plessis, no run, nah. Udana takes pace off, which Faf misreads as he tries to run it down to third man, missing all ends up

Faf needs eight. SA need three. So, it has to be a single here.

Udana to Amla, 1 run, stands up tall, riding on the bounce with a wristy slap through sweeper

Udana to Amla, no run, pitched up on off, driven with nice high elbows to mid-off

Udana to Amla, no run, sticks out an opened bat face to stab it away to point

Udana to Amla, 2 runs, another flick firmly into these wide gaps - this time at mid-wicket - two-worthy

Udana to Amla, 2 runs, steered away watchfully backward of point. But it's placed so damn well that Faf will HAVE to come back for the second

Malinga to du Plessis, no run, driven a little too hard to mid-off, and Amla has already gone halfway down to help Faf get more strike. But no, it's timed way too well to steal these

Malinga to du Plessis, no run, slower, but more of the dipping stuff in the crease. Blocked

Malinga to du Plessis, no run, moves away from the line, drilling it hard but straight to extra cover