Rhodes leads to South Africa victory

Jonty Rhodes hit an unbeaten half-century and guided South Africa to a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first limited overs international against South Africa at St Georges Park Friday.

South Africa were in trouble at 143 for six, chasing a Sri Lankan total of 221 all out, before Rhodes (61 not out) and Lance Klusener (39 not out) put on 80 in an unbroken seventh wicket partnership.

Jonty Rhodes

Rhodes announced his retirement from Test cricket before the recent series against New Zealand. He showed that the break from the international game had done his batting no harm, although he said he had spent much of the past week in bed with flu.

It was a tough, tense battle as South Africa lost their way after a sparkling 49-run opening stand between Gary Kirsten and Andrew Hall in 9.1 overs.

Kirsten went on to make 58 but wickets fell steadily at the other end. Nuwan Zoysa had an opening spell of two for 22 in seven overs and Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold both pulled off direct-hit run-outs before Rhodes and Klusener came together.

When Rhodes swept Sanath Jayasuriya for four in the 40th over it was the first boundary in 19 overs. But as victory grew closer, the scoring accelerated and South Africa won with 16 balls to spare.

Romesh Kaluwitharana (55) and Kumar Sangakkara (84) proved decisive factors in Sri Lankas total. They justified the decision to include both the tour wicketkeepers in the batting line-up for the first of six limited overs matches.

Romesh Kaluwitharana

Kaluwitharana dominated the early part of the innings, playing some robust square cuts in a 69-ball innings, while Sangakkara was involved in the two best partnerships of the innings, 47 for the sixth wicket with Tillekeratne Dilshan and 52 for the seventh wicket with Chaminda Vaas.

Sangakkara fell one short of his career highest score, made against the same opponents at Galle earlier this year, when he swung across the line and was bowled by South African captain Shaun Pollock in the last over. He faced 114 balls and hit eight fours.

Pollock was South Africa's most successful bowler, taking four for 36, while medium-pacer Klusener put the brakes on the Lankans, conceding only 26 runs in his 10 overs and taking the wicket of Russel Arnold.

The stand between Sangakkara and Dilshan ended when Dilshan was run out following a mix-up between the two batsmen. Jacques Kallis made a diving stop in the gully and Jonty Rhodes swooped quickly on the rebound to throw to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher with Dilshan well short.

South Africa did not include fast bowler Allan Donald in their line-up, giving him more time to recover from a stomach muscle injury.

Scoreboard in the first LOI between SA and SL.

Sri Lanka
Jayasuriya b Pollock 3
Kaluwitharana b Kallis 55
Atapattu c and b Telemachus 2
Jayawardene c Boucher b Ntini 13
Angakkara b Pollock 84
Arnold c Boucher b Klusener 5
Dilshan run out (Rhodes) 18
Vaas b Pollock 18
Zoysa c Pollock b Kallis 1
Muralitharan not out 2
Wickramasinghe b Pollock 1
Extras (lb5, w7, nb7) 19
Total (49.5 overs) 221

Fall of wicket: 1/16 (Jayasuriya), 2/21 (Atapattu), 3/63 (Jayawardene), 4/91 (Kaluwitharana), 5/112 (Arnold), 6/159 (Dilshan), 7/211 (Vaas), 8/214 (Zoysa), 9/219 (Sangakkara)

Bowling: Pollock 9.5-1-36-4 (3nb), Telemachus 10-1-46-1 (3w, 4nb), Kallis 9-1-34-2 (1w), Ntini 5-0-44-1 (2w), Klusener 10-0-26-1, Boje 6-0-30-0 (1w).

South Africa
Kirsten st Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 58
Hall c Kaluwitharana b Zoysa 18
Boje run out (Jayawardene) 6
Kallis c and b Zoysa 0
Dippenaar c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 19
Rhodes not out 61
Boucher run out (Arnold) 9
Klusener not out 39
Extras (lb8, w3, nb2) 13
Total (6 wkts, 47.2 overs) 223

Fall of wicket: 1/49 (Hall), 2/56 (Boje), 3/57 (Kallis), 4/91 (Dippenaar), 5/126 (Kirsten), 6/143 (Boucher)
Bowling: Vaas 9-1-50-1 (2nb), Zoysa 9-0-35-2 (1w), Wickramasinghe 7.2-0-44-0 (1w), Muralitharan 10-1-39-1, Jayasuriya 7-0-31-0, Arnold 5-1-16-0 (1w).

Did not bat: Pollock, Telemachus, Ntini.
Result: South Africa won by 6 wickets.
Man of match: Jonty Rhodes.

Mail Cricket Editor