Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in their opening match of the ICC World T20.
South Africa were without skipper Faf du Plessis but ODI skipper AB de Villiers captained the side.
Sri Lanka
K Perera, T Dilshan, M Jayawardene, K Sangakkara, D Chandimal, A Mathews, T Perera, N Kulasekara, S Senanayake, A Mendis, L Malinga
South Africa
Q de Kock, H Amla, JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, D Miller, F Behardien, A Morkel, D Steyn, M Morkel, L Tsotsobe, I Tahir
Before the start of the tournament, Sangakkara and Jayawardene announced that this ICC World T20 tournament would be their last.
According to statistics, Sri Lanka win all their matches when they defend 160+ runs.
K Perera scored his 5th international T20 fifty.
It turns out, Mathews has not been dismissed for a duck in 36 innings, and that is quite impressive.
Eventually South Africa dismissed top scorer K. Perera for 61 off 40 balls.
The South Africans delivered 10 extras, 7 of which were wides. Is this a cause for concern?
Sri Lanka posted 165-7.
South Africa needed 166 runs to win from 20 overs at 8.30 runs per over.
South Africa had to be very tactical against the bowling of Malinga.
The wicket of de Kock was Malinga's 34th T20 wicket. Which also made him the leading wicket taker in World T20 Internationals.
At the end of the powerplay the run rate had increased to 9.00, with South Africa needing 126 runs to win. To make matters worse, South Africa reached 50 runs in 8 overs, compared to Sri Lanka who reached their 50 runs in 5.5 overs.
The only decent partnership, was the 50 run partnership between Amla and Duminy.
After 11 overs Sri Lanka were 85-3 and South Africa on 83-2. The difference being a wicket and 2 runs.
Then after 13 overs Sri Lanka were 104-3 and South Africa on 103-2. This time the difference being a wicket and 1 run. The South Africans slowly catching on to the Sri Lankans.
A Morkel, came in and smashed two sixes and left South Africa needing 33 runs to win. Moreover, coming back to the side after a long absence, he looked very disappointed after his dismissal.
For a moment South Africa were in a good position to win the match. However, 2 unnecessary run outs cost them the match.
In the end South Africa lost their opening match of the ICC World T20 while Sri Lanka proved their stats by winning yet another match where they scored 160+ runs.
South Africa finished with figures of 160-8.
Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 5 runs.
The man of the match was K Perera for his 61 off 40 balls.
Hopefully South Africa will turn things around in their next match against New Zealand on Monday.
