Dilshan takes Sri Lanka to victory

Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 74 off 51 deliveries to take Sri Lanka to a six-wicket consolation win in the third and final Twenty20 match over South Africa. The visitors clinched the series 2-1.

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis led from the front, scoring 85 in his team’s imposing 163 for three in 20 overs after electing to bat.

Jean-Paul Duminy continued his top form with a run-a-ball unbeaten 51. Sri Lanka started strongly as Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardena added 67 runs before Jayawardena (33) was out in the sixth over.

The start and 20 runs in the 18th over by Thisara Perera enabled Sri Lanka to chase down the score with 11 deliveries to spare.

Scoreboard:

South Africa: H. Davids lbw b Kulasekara 0, Q. de Kock lbw b Mendis 16, F. du Plessis b Lakmal 85, J-P Duminy (not out) 51, A.B. de Villiers (not out) 1; Extras (lb-1, w-9): 10; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 163.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-45, 3-157.

Sri Lanka bowling: Kulasekara 4-0-37-1, Lakmal 4-0-29-1, Senanayake 4-0-20-0, Perera 1-0-10-0, Mendis 4-0-31-1, Mathews 1-0-14-0, Dilshan 2-0-21-0.

Sri Lanka: T. Dilshan (not out) 74, M. Jayawardena c de Villiers b Parnell 33, K. Perera c Parnell b Wiese 1, D. Chandimal st de Kock b Tahir 14, A. Mathews b Wiese 14, T. Perera (not out) 25; Extras (lb-1, w-1, nb-1): 3; Total (for four wkts. in 18.1 overs): 164.

Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-71, 3-100, 4-123.

South Africa bowling: Tsotsobe 4-0-49-0, Morkel 3.1-0-33-0, Parnell 3-0-37-1, Tahir 4-0-20-1, Wiese 4-0-24-2.

Man-of-the-match: T. Dilshan.