CAPE TOWN: A.B. de Villiers hit a half-century on his return to international cricket, but it was not enough to prevent Sri Lanka from beating South Africa in the series-deciding third and final Twenty20 International at Newlands on Wednesday.

De Villiers made 63 off 44 balls in a South African total of 169 for five but Sri Lanka won by five wickets with one ball to spare to regain some pride after being outplayed in a three-match Test series.

Opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella made 68 off 51 balls before Seekkuge Prasanna clinched a 2-1 series win for the tourists by slamming an unbeaten 37 off 16 deliveries.

Dickwella was named man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series after making useful contributions in all three matches.

South Africa dropped five catches — including three off successive balls in one over from Wayne Parnell — and were hampered by an injury to fast bowling discovery Lungi Ngidi, who left the field after bowling only two of his potential four overs.

Sri Lanka, though, could take pride in overcoming the loss of injured captain Angelo Mathews, who played a match-winning innings to level the series in the second match in Johannesburg last Sunday.

Playing in his first international match after recovering from an elbow injury which kept him out of action for six months, de Villiers made a cautious start, with his first run coming off the fifth ball he faced.

His first six runs were singles but he gradually increased his range of strokes, hitting left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan for a straight six and pulling a short ball from Asela Gunaratne for another six as he went to his ninth Twenty20 International fifty off 35 balls.

He cleared the boundary with another pull shot, off Isuru Udana, but he lost his wicket just as South Africa were looking to pile on the pressure when he squeezed a drive against Nuwan Kulasekara to Upul Tharanga at backward point off the first ball of the 18th over.

With Behardien having been run out three balls earlier, it meant South Africa lost two experienced, explosive batsmen in quick succession.

Mangaliso Mosehle hit three sixes in the final over, however, to enable South Africa to post a competitive total.

The left-handed Dickwella provided the foundation for Sri Lanka’s win with a 71-run third-wicket partnership with Dhana­njaya de Silva. But leg-spinner Imran Tahir dismissed both batsmen in the 16th over to give South Africa a chance before Prasanna’s uninhibited hitting took Sri Lanka over the line.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

J.T. Smuts lbw b Prasanna 19 R. Hendricks st Chandimal b Sandakan 41 A.B. de Villiers c Tharanga b Kulasekara 63 D.A. Miller c Sandakan b Gunaratne 1 F. Behardien run out 6 M. Mosehle not out 32 W.D. Parnell not out 3

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2) 4

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 169

FALL OF WKTS: 1-36, 2-107, 3-117, 4-133, 5-135.

DID NOT BAT: A.L. Phehlukwayo, D. Paterson, Imran Tahir, L. Ngidi

BOWLING: S.T. de Silva 1-0-10-0; Kulasekara 4-0-30-1; Udana 4-0-49-0; Prasanna 3-0-21-1 (1w); Sandakan 4-0-23-1; Gunaratne 4-0-34-1 (1w).

SRI LANKA:

N. Dickwella c Behardien b Imran 68 W.U. Tharanga c Behardien b Parnell 20 L.D. Chandimal b Imran Tahir 5 D.M. de Silva st Mosehle b Imran 19 S. Prasanna not out 37 B.K.G. Mendis run out 2 D.A.S. Gunaratne not out 11

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, W-3) 8

TOTAL (for five wkts, 19.5 overs) 170

FALL OF WKTS: 1-36, 2-45, 3-116, 4-118, 5-142.

DID NOT BAT: S.T. de Silva, K.M.D.N. Kulasekara, I. Udana, P.A.D.L.R. Sandakan

BOWLING: Ngidi 2-0-13-0; Paterson 3.5-0-38-0 (1w); Parnell 4-0-42-1 (1w); Imran Tahir 4-0-18-3; Phehlukwayo 4-0-32-0 (1w); Smuts 2-0-22-0.

RESULT: Sri Lanka won by five wickets to three-match series 2-1.

UMPIRES: S. George (South Africa) and B.P. Jele (South Africa).

TV UMPIRE: A.T. Holdstock (South Africa).

MATCH REFEREE: R.B. Richardson (West Indies).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Niroshan Dickwella.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Niroshan Dickwella.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2017