October 25, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1427

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AHMEDABAD, Oct 24: Fast bowler Lasith Malinga grabbed four wickets as Sri Lanka restricted South Africa to 219-9 in the Champions Trophy tournament on Tuesday.

Left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas did the early damage with two big wickets and left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya (2-36) bowled tight in the middle overs before Malinga struck in quick succession to finish with 4-53.

South Africa, needing a win to stay alive in the competition, failed to cope with Sri Lanka's pace-spin combination after being put in to bat in the day-night match.

A.B. de Villiers (54) and Jacques Kallis (43) put on 80 for the fourth wicket but their impressive knocks were not good enough to help their team set a stiff target.

South Africa were in danger of falling before the 200-mark before Robin Peterson and Shaun Pollock exploded with a flurry of boundaries in the last two overs which yielded 32 runs.

Peterson hit one six and three fours in his 16-ball 22 while Pollock remained unbeaten with 21 off 17 balls.

Vaas rocked South Africa when he dismissed skipper Graeme Smith (10) and Boeta Dippenaar (three) in his disciplined opening 10-over spell to finish with 2-16.

Smith was caught flicking by Jayasuriya at short mid-wicket and Dippenaar was held by Kumar Sangakkara, standing up to the stumps.

South Africa were reeling at 30-3 in the ninth over as Herschelle Gibbs edged Malinga to become wicket-keeper Sangakkara's one of the three victims.

Kallis and de Villiers did repair the early damage with their responsible knocks, but could never take liberties against Jayasuriya and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

The pair fell in a bid to step up the run-rate. Kallis was stumped off Jayasuriya while de Villiers was caught in the deep off Muralitharan after completing his second half-century in one-day internationals.

Kallis, who sprained his foot during his innings, hit two fours and one six while de Villiers struck three fours in his 88-ball knock.

Pressure kept mounting on South Africa who then lost hard-hitting Justin Kemp (seven) and wicket-keeper Mark Boucher (29). Kemp was bowled by Jayasuriya attempting a big shot while Boucher was bowled.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

G.C. Smith c Jayasuriya b Vaas 10

H.H. Dippenaar c Sangakkara b Vaas 3

H.H. Gibbs c Sangakkara b Malinga 16

J.H. Kallis st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 43

A.B. de Villiers c Maharoof b Murali 54

M.V. Boucher b Malinga 29

J.M. Kemp b Jayasuriya 7

S.M. Pollock not out 21

R.J. Peterson b Malinga 22

A. Nel b Malinga 0

M. Ntini not out 1

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-6, NB-1) 13

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 219

FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-30, 3-30, 4-110, 5-145, 6-169, 7-176, 8-218, 9-218.

BOWLING: Vaas 10-3-16-2; Malinga 9-0-53-4 (3w); Fernando 5-0-24-0 (1nb); Muralitharan 10-0-42-1 (1w); Jayasuriya 10-0-36-2 (2w); Maharoof 5-0-34-0 (2w); Dilshan 1-0-8-0

SRI LANKA: W.U. Tharanga, S.T. Jayasuriya, K.C. Sangakkara, D.P.M.D. Jayawardene, M.S. Atapattu, T.M. Dishan, M.F. Maharoof, W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, M. Muralitharan, S.L. Malinga, C.R.D. Fernando.

UMPIRES: D.J. Harper and S.J.A. Taufel (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).—AFP

South Africa win

South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 78 runs. Sri Lanka were all out for 141 in 39.1 overs.