Sri Lanka stutter in sight of victory

50 overs South Africa 5 for 263 (Dippenaar 125*) beat Sri Lanka 8 for 254 (Dilshan 82*, Jayawardene 52) by nine runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Andrew Hall grabbed two wickets in two balls in a brilliant display of one-day death bowling, as South Africa snatched a thrilling nine-run victory from the jaws of defeat in the VB Series at Adelaide. Chasing 264 for victory, Sri Lanka had been cruising on 224 for 4, but were unable to close out the game, despite the best efforts of Tillekeratne Dilshan, who finished unbeaten on 82.

It was a thrilling and improbable denouement to a match that Sri Lanka seemed to have under control throughout. Boeta Dippenaar compiled a brave and watchful 125 not out, his third and highest one-day century, but aside from Herschelle Gibbs, no other South African was able to break the shackles imposed by Sri Lanka's spinners, who bowled superbly in the middle overs and wheeled through 131 consecutive deliveries without conceding a single boundary.

Sri Lanka's reply started indifferently, with Jehan Mubarak falling early to Shaun Pollock as just 16 runs came from the first eight overs. But Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara, fresh from their matchwinning exploits against Australia on Sunday, lifted the momentum so dramatically that, even when they fell in quick succession with the score on 68, Sri Lanka were always up with the run-rate. Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene added 107 for the fifth wicket to break the back of the chase.

But Johannes van der Wath produced a brilliant array of yorker-length deliveries that cranked up the pressure and accounted for Jayawardene for 52, paving the way for Hall and Shaun Pollock to close out the game. Hall bowled Russel Arnold with a low full toss before running out Malinga Bandara as he followed through on his very next delivery, and when Chaminda Vaas's brief assault was ended by a well-judged catch in the deep from Johan Botha, the bowler Shaun Pollock was so relieved he instinctively hugged umpire Aleem Dar.

Muttiah Muralitharan was left needing two runs a ball to salvage the game, but could only come up with a succession of air-shots, as South Africa pulled off a victory that drags them right back into the reckoning at the half-way mark of the tournament. All three sides now have two wins out of four, and on Thursday South Africa take on an Australian side who have chosen to rest their captain, Ricky Ponting. After this sort of a result, the South Africans will be in the mood to make such complacency pay.

South Africa's day began smoothly but unspectacularly, as Dippenaar and Graeme Smith repelled Sri Lanka's new-ball threat and rode their luck to add 72 for the first wicket. Neither man ever looked at their very best, but with Vaas bending the ball both ways at will, survival was always the first imperative.

That was particularly the case for Smith, who has been desperately short of runs this tour and once again fell cheaply, for 28. But Dippenaar, who made a fluent 74 in South Africa's victory over Australia last week, soon began to find the middle of the bat, and with one fine flick through square-leg for four and a sumptuous drive through the covers, he prompted Marvan Atapattu to turn to his spinners.

The decision paid immediate dividends. Muralitharan struck twice in two balls in his first over of the innings to become only the second cricketer after Wasim Akram to take 400 wickets in both forms of the game, and when Jacques Rudolph's edgy innings ended with a top-edged sweep back to the bowler, Dilshan (3 for 101), it took a lengthy period of introspection from Dippenaar and Gibbs to keep the innings from capsizing.

It wasn't until the 40th over that Gibbs eventually lofted Jayasuriya straight down the ground for four to break the shackles, and he slapped three sixes over the short leg-side boundary before being bowled round his legs for 69 by Ruchira Perera. Dippenaar then added a final flourish, with 25 runs coming from his last 15 deliveries, but until the Sri Lankan choke began to set in, it never quite looked like being enough.

Graeme Smith st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 28 (1 for 72)
Stretching forward, lifted back leg, smart work from keeper

Johannes van der Wath c Arnold b Muralitharan 0 (2 for 72)
Uncertain prod to short leg

Jacques Rudolph c & b Dilshan 11 (3 for 101)
Top-edged sweep well caught by bowler

Herschelle Gibbs b Perera 69 (4 for 220)
Stepped across, clipped leg stump

Shaun Pollock c Atapattu b Kulasekera 8 (5 for 249)
Uppish drive, scooped low in covers

Jehan Mubarak c Prince b Pollock 4 (1 for 11)
Toe-ended pull to midwicket

Sanath Jayasuriya st Boucher b Hall 37 (2 for 68)
Brilliant leg-side take, whipped off the bails

Kumar Sangakkara c & b van der Wath 23 (3 for 68)
Checked drive on slower ball, looped back to bowler

Marvan Atapattu run out (Boucher) 23 (4 for 117)
Ball looped down leg-side, set off for run, keeper gathered above head and threw down stumps

Mahela Jayawardene b van der Wath 52 (5 for 224)
Inswinging yorker, under-edge onto stumps

Russel Arnold b Hall 11 (6 for 242)
Low full toss, played down wrong line

Malinga Bandara run out (Hall) 0 (7 for 242)
Lost sight of ball, direct hit in bowler's follow-through

Chaminda Vaas c Botha b Pollock 9 (8 for 253)
Slogged into deep, well held at cow corner