Ball Tampering - Just Don't Do It!

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How the Proteas won the 1st Test v Sri Lanka

Hashim Amla got his captaincy career off with the perfect start when he led the South Africa to an 153 run victory in the opening Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle on Sunday.

Dean Elgar scored his second Test match century and his first as an opening batsman on the opening day of the first Test match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Elgar was dismissed for 103 runs. This equalled his unbeaten maiden century against New Zealand. He also became the first Protea opening batsman to score a Test century in Sri Lanka. Elgar and Alviro Petersen shared a partnership of 70 runs and a 123 run partnership with Faf du Plessis.

Unfortunately the loss of Amla and de Villiers for low scores required the rest to score the runs.

Quinton de Kock made his maiden Test half-century, 51 off 90 balls.

In the final session, Sri Lanka took 4 wickets and left the Proteas on 268/5 at the close.

The Proteas were scoring more than four runs an over for most of the morning session.

Du Plessis became the fourth fastest South African to reach 1 000 Test runs behind Graeme Smith, de Villiers and Eddie Barlow.

Suranga Lakmal dismissed both Elgar and AB de Villiers. While Dilruwan Perera claimed the wickets of Petersen and du Plessis.

Night watchman, Dale Steyn, needed only two runs to reach 1 000 Test runs and 300 Test wickets.

JP Duminy scored his fourth Test century, the second in his last three matches and his first maiden Test against Sri Lanka. Duminy’s innings was his highest, either at home or away against any of the sub-continent teams, beating his 57 against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi last year.

Duminy and Vernon Philander made a partnership of 75 runs for the eighth wicket that made sure that the Proteas would reach their minimum target of 400.

Morne Morkel produced his highest score against Sri Lanka with 22 runs. He also helped Duminy both reach his century and put together a ninth wicket partnership of 66 runs.

It was the 50+ runs by Elgar, Duminy, du Plessis and de Kock that lead the Proteas to a commanding position and declare at 455/9.

On day 3 Dale Steyn took his 23rd five-wicket haul.

One of Philander's deliveries hit Upal Tharanga’s off-stump without breaking the wicket and the Sri Lankan opener went on to make 83 runs.

Interestingly, after Morkel dismissed Kumar Sangakkara, four overs and six runs later Steyn dismissed Mahela Jayawardene.

Captain Angelo Mathews and Herath put together a 71 run partnership before Imran Tahir bowled a full toss to remove Mathews' middle stump, while he was on his way to his third century in successive Test matches on 89 runs.

Sadly, Steyn suffered yet another blow to his already bruised right hand when he tried to stop a Herath shot off the bowling of Morkel.

Steyn finished the day with figures of 5/50, his second five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka.

In his first Test behind the stumps, de Kock made four dismissals (three catches and a stumping).

At the close of play Sri Lanka found themselves 172 runs behind with only one wicket left.

Philander became the second South African to be charged and fined for ball-tampering after an incident during the Test in Galle. He was fined 75% of his match fee for breaching clause 42.1 of the ICC's match playing conditions as footage viewed by the umpires after the close of play showed him "scratching the ball with his fingers and thumb".

In the third session, Steyn took three wickets in five overs.

When South Africa batted, they began with a 163-run lead from their first innings. Unfortunately their second innings were not as good as their first.

Elgar, du Plessis, Petersen and Amla could only manage 103 runs between them while De Villiers made 51 runs as he picked the boundaries.

During the tea break, South Africa declared.

Amla gave Sri Lanka four sessions to chase 370 in 122 overs.

Sri Lanka started well, knocking off 110 runs from the set target with Sangakkara scoring an unbeaten 50 runs. Sri Lanka reached 110/1 by the close of play, needing a further 260 for victory.

Sangakkara and Kaushal Silva collected 96 after Dale Steyn took out Tharanga.

Eranga came out to bat with eight stitches in the webbing of his right hand and had a tape securing his thumb and index finger.

Sri Lanka had lost five wickets for 40 runs in 18.2 overs.

The final pair of Herath and Eranga lasted just shy of five overs, with de Villiers ending the former's resistance with a spectacular diving take at second slip off Morkel.

Steyn and Morkel bowled South Africa to their third Test win in Sri Lanka with 16 wickets between them. De Kock finished with five catches.

Steyn was named man of the match for his return of 9/99 which is the best for South Africa in Sri Lanka. Steyn now has 371 Test wickets which has taken him past Pakistan legend, Imran Khan, into 16th place on the all-time list. His strike rate of 41.7 is substantially better than anybody else who has taken more than 200 wickets.

Morkel finished with 7/78 and a feature for both bowlers was not only their strike rates but the economy rates in the 40 overs bowled by Steyn and the 33 by Morkel.

De Kock can look back on a wonderful first Test as wicketkeeper-batsman. His nine dismissals in the match (eight catches and a stumping) constitute a South African record against Sri Lanka beating the eight of Mark Boucher (twice) and Dave Richardson.  He also contributed 87 runs, including his maiden Test half-century, off only 130 balls.

Hashim Amla began his captaincy on a high in the country where they last lost an away Test series, in 2006.

Rankings after Proteas and Sri Lanka ODI Series

South Africa's 2-1 maiden ODI series win in Sri Lanka helped the country and its cricketers to move upwards in the latest Reliance ICC ODI Rankings which were released on Sunday.

The 3-match ODI series began with South Africa in 5th position on 109 rating points. Now they have joined Sri Lanka on 111 ratings points and has now joined Sri Lanka on 111 ratings points. However, they are ranked behind Sri Lanka, in 4th position, when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point. South Africa gained two ratings points which means they trail no. 1 ranked Australia by 4 ratings points and 2nd ranked India by 1 rating point.

With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 starting in Australia and New Zealand in seven months, only six ratings points separate the top five sides. with South Africa to play at least 17 ODIs before it opens its World Cup campaign against Zimbabwe in Hamilton on 15 February. These matches will help South Africa to prepare for the World Cup, they will also provide it with the chance to surge to the top of the ODI team rankings. They are also learning to win in pressure situations.

South Africa players have also benefited from the series as most of the highest-ranking players have moved in the right direction.

Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen

Hashim Amla scored centuries in the opening two matches and also finished the series as the leading run-scorer with 258 runs, gained two places and now trails AB de Villiers by 17 ratings points.

De Villiers' 212 runs in the series earned him 13 ratings points which have given him a career-best rating of 885 and remains in top spot.

Quinton de Kock scored 159 runs during the ODI series, moved up two places to a career-best 11th ranking including his 4th century in 6 matches.

David Miller moved five places and now sits in 40th position.

Reliance ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers

Ryan McLaren, was the most successful bowler of the series with 9 wickets, moved into the top 10 in 10th position after jumping 10 places. He joins Dale Steyn (4), Lonwabo Tsotsobe (7) and Morne Morkel (8). Spin bowler Imran Tahir, who claimed 6 wickets, rocketed 32 places and occupies the 51st spot.

JP Duminy moved up five places to 63rd and Vernon Philander moved up six places to 87th.

Unfortunately not everybody in the South African squad benefited from the Reliance ICC Player Rankings. Duminy, Faf du Plessis and Jacques Kallis slipped in the batting charts. Duminy dropped seven places to 29th, Kallis dropped four places to 40th and du Plessis dropped three places to 54th.

In the bowling, both Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have slipped to fourth and eighth, respectively, after conceding two places each.

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews and Ajantha Mendis also benefited from the series.

Angelo Mathews' 105 runs in 3 matches helped him gain two places to put him in 22nd spot, while Mendis’ 7 wickets have allowed him to move up seven places to 32nd position.

Lasith Malinga moved up one place and is now in 21st spot while Tillakaratne Dilshan moved five places in the bowling table and is now in 67th position.

2-1 ODI Series Victory for Proteas in Sri Lanka

South Africa won the 3-match series 2-1. The player of the final match was AB de Villiers for a quick 108 runs, while the player of the series was none other than Hashim Amla for a total of 258 runs.

It's in the numbers

First One Day International

South Africa 304 for 5 beat Sri Lanka 229 by 75 runs.

South Africa won the 1st ODI by 75 runs after posting 304 for 5 while Sri Lanka only managed 229 all out.

Despite being declared fit to play, Kallis was out for a second-ball duck when he failed to read Mendis' carrom ball.

AB de Villiers and Amla made an 151 run partnership for the third wicket.

Sri Lanka dropped Amla on 49 and de Villiers on 17. Amla went on to score 109 runs, his 13th ODI century, while de Villiers scored 75.

A late charge by Miller saw South Africa score 53 runs in the last 5 overs to post their highest total in Sri Lanka. This was Sri Lanka's highest second-innings total at the Premadasa.

Mendis took 3 wickets for 61 runs.

Sangakkara scored 88 runs.

Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for only 13 runs.

Tahir and Steyn cleaned up the tail, and Sri Lanka had been dismissed in 40.3 overs.

Tahir took 3 wickets for 50 runs.

Second One Day International

Sri Lanka 267 beat South Africa 180 by 87 runs.

Dilshan raced to a half-century in 40 balls and continued to 86 runs.

The Sri Lankan captain had contributed to his team's highest stand of the innings, 71-runs with Jayawardene.

McLaren dismissed 4 batsmen at the death of the Sri Lankan innings, including 3 in one over. He finished with figures of 4 for 48.

It was up to Kallis to build a foundation in the chase but he lasted only 7 balls before being bounced out by the same bowler. Managing just 1 run in two matches.

Sri Lanka ended South Africa's biggest partnership - 75 between Amla and de Villiers - to ensure their victory.

Amla scored his second successive ODI century, his third in four matches and his third on the tour. Amla became the quickest cricketer to reach 14 ODI centuries. This time he scored 101 runs.

Once again Sri Lanka dropped 2 catches, Amla on 67 and Miller on 0.

South Africa lost 5 wickets for 26 runs with Dilshan claiming 3 of those.

At one point, South Africa lost 5 wickets for 11 runs.

Malinga finished with figures of 4 for 24.

The Sri Lankan comeback and ensured the three-match series will go to a decider on Saturday.

Third One Day International

South Africa re-wrote the history books by winning a first-ever One Day International series in Sri Lanka.

The South Africans 339 was the highest chase in Sri Lanka to win the series.

South Africa 339 for 5 beat Sri Lanka 257 by 82 runs.

Tons from de Kock (128) and de Villiers (108) took South Africa to their largest score against Sri Lanka.

De Kock scored his 4th century in 6 innings, his 5th overall and the highest by a South African in an ODI against Sri Lanka. It also maintained his 100% conversion rate of half-centuries into three figures.

De Kock was dropped on 38 by Priyanjan.

De Kock and Amla made an opening partnership of 118 runs. Followed by a partnership of 116 runs between de Kock and de Villiers.

Sri Lanka did not concede a boundary between the 21st and 31st overs.

Duminy was a silent partner and together with de Villiers, put on 80 runs in eight overs.

South Africa had scored 187 runs in the last 20 overs of their innings; 95 of those runs came in the last 10 overs.

In 3 matches, Kallis could only manage 5 runs.

McLaren was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 3 wickets from 37 runs.

Sri Lanka's 99 runs from the first 10 overs.

Jayawardene fell to Tahir for the 3rd time in the series.

Sri Lanka lost 3 wickets for six runs in the space of 14 balls.

Priyanjan and Mathews put on an 83 run partnership for the 6th wicket.

McLaren was the series' highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets.