South Africa v Sri Lanka: Live scorecard

Right. That will be that from us for this game. Don’t go anywhere though as England prepare to take on Australia at Dubai. Head over to our coverage to see how the eternal rivals fare! Goodbye, stay safe!

Phew! That was some game. Sri Lanka and South Africa exchanged blows throughout the encounter, with the Proteas ultimately triumphing at the death. In the end, it boiled down to which team was better suited to handling pressure. South Africa won that particular contest and stand atop the Sri Lankans, with four points out of three games. Having said that, this was far from the perfect display the Proteas have been craving. They looked a touch shaky with the bat and had to rely on Miller’s heroics. They also need to work out how to best utilize the array of top order batters at their disposal. For now, though, they would want to savour this victory and prepare themselves for another crucial match against Bangladesh on the 2nd of November.

As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, they would be gutted that they let this game slip. Remember, Hasaranga, courtesy of his hat-trick, almost single-handedly turned the game in their favour. But, the lack of experience showed towards the end, especially with Kumara cracking under pressure. Their batting too, seems a tad undercooked and they would ideally want a few more of their batters to contribute. Nevertheless, they would be happy with the fight they showed in the second innings, considering they didn’t put up too many runs on the board. Their next game is against England, who have been battering each and every opposition in its path. Should be interesting!

Over 19.5: South Africa 146-6 – Rabada takes South Africa across the line

Kumara bowls another length delivery and it flies off the outside edge of Rabada’s bat for four. South Africa inch past the finish line and they have Miller and Rabada to thank for it. What a game this has been! Slightly unfair on Sri Lanka, considering how they came back. But that is how the sport goes sometimes!

Over 19.3: South Africa 141-6 – Miller on a roll

Kumara keeps bowling length and keeps getting clattered onto the road. Kumara seems to have cracked under pressure. Miller pumps himself up after that big hit and this has suddenly become South Africa’s game to lose. 2 from 3 balls now!

Over 19.2: South Africa 135-6 – Miller comes to the fore

Rare length delivery by Kumara and it gets clubbed onto the road by Miller. South Africa need 8 off 4 now and another hit will reduce the equation further. The pressure is on! And, Kumara is feeling every bit of it!

Over 19: South Africa 128-6 – Rabada keeps Proteas dreaming

Rabada bludgeoned a six down the ground and that has kept South Africa afloat. The good bit for Sri Lanka is that they have kept Miller off strike for the final over. Rabada has shown that he can hit it out of the park. Can he do it under pressure though? 15 runs needed off 6 balls.

Over 18: South Africa 118-6 – South Africa have a mountain to climb

The equation (25 runs off 12 balls) is perilous enough and South Africa will try to achieve it with David Miller not at a 100%. He seems to be struggling with a hamstring injury and that could come into play as he looks to power the ball over the leg side. Chameera to bowl the 19th over!

Update: Kagiso Rabada survives a DRS call and just about prevents Hasaranga from picking four wickets off four deliveries. Hasaranga is having some game, eh?

Over 17.2: South Africa 112-6 – Hasaranga gets his hat-trick

Hasaranga seems to come up trumps when Sri Lanka require him most! Another vital breakthrough and with Pretorius’ dismissal, Hasaranga becomes only the third bowler in T20 World Cup history to achieve the feat. What a bowler he is turning out to be!

Over 17.1: South Africa 112-5 – Hasaranga breaks through, again

Just as we were talking up how crucial Bavuma has been, he perishes to a rank long hop. Bavuma could have hit that anywhere but hits it straight down deep mid wicket’s throat. And, South Africa now need a massive knock from Miller or Pretorius to get across the line. Sri Lanka’s game to lose! Hasaranga is also on a hat-trick, by the way!

Over 17: South Africa 112-4 – Bavuma keeps South Africa in the hunt

Sri Lanka applied the brakes wonderfully in the 16th over but Bavuma, who has been batting since the Power Play, turned on the heat in the 17th over. The equation is now reduced to 31 runs off 18 balls, meaning that the game is finely balanced. Wanindu Hasaranga to bowl the 18th.

Over 3.5: Sri Lanka 20-1  – Nortje breaks through

Nortje has been South Africa’s most threatening bowler throughout the T20 World Cup and he gets in on the act very early. He removes Perera and that now exposes Asalanka to the Power Play. If South Africa can get Asalanka, they will well and truly be in control. That, though, might not be easy considering the form the Sri Lankan is in.

Over 2: Sri Lanka 14-0 – Rabada leaks runs in his first over

Things didn’t go to plan for Rabada and to an extent, he was guilty of bowling a tad short. There was an inside edge involved as well but one feels this is not the sort of length Rabada would want to operate at throughout this game. Much needed momentum for Sri Lanka at the start of their innings.

Over 1: Sri Lanka 5-0 – Tidy start for both sides

The early indications are that the ball is not coming onto the bat. There is not a lot of bounce either, meaning that the Sri Lankan batters might have to make the most of the field restrictions. South Africa, meanwhile, would want to bowl as close to the stumps as possible and deny the batters any sort of width.

Update: Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka walk out to the centre. Aiden Markram to start off proceedings with the ball. South Africa take the knee before the start of play, with Sri Lanka also lending their support to the Black Lives Matter movement. Moments away from action now!

Both teams have sung their respective national anthems proudly and there is a buzz around the ground already. Remember, this could be a crucial game for both sides’ qualification hopes. Neither would be eliminated if they lose but both would like nothing more than a victory to ensure breathing room.

South Africa win the toss and elect to bowl first; Quinton de Kock returns

South Africa, as expected, choose to bowl first. Teams have been very successful when chasing at Sharjah and even though that trend was broken yesterday, it still seems the right way to go about things. South Africa also did well when chasing against the West Indies and they would have seen how Sri Lanka struggled to put up a decent total against Australia. For the Islanders, this is a chance to make the most of whatever pace is on offer and then apply the brakes as the game progresses.

South Africa XI: Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

Sri Lanka XI: Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka (C), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana

Spin to win at Sharjah?

After a couple of high-scoring games (Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka and Afghanistan’s first innings against Scotland), Sharjah seems to have reverted to its 2021 roots. The surfaces haven’t been conducive to stroke-making and teams batting first have found it tough to gauge what would be a good score. In fact, when the West Indies won yesterday, it was only the second occasion of a team batting first and winning at Sharjah in this year’s T20 World Cup. The same pitch is going to be used today as well. Spinners and fast bowlers willing to take pace off the ball have been successful so far. Will that trend continue? And, if it does, could it skew the contest slightly towards Sri Lanka, considering the spinners they have at their disposal? Remember, South Africa have never played a T20I at Sharjah before!

Sri Lanka hope to show how far they’ve come since last South African meeting

Just before the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka and South Africa were busy engaging in an engrossing T20I rubber. The series, which took place in Sri Lanka, was comfortably won by South Africa. It was perhaps also the first time people thought that the Proteas could achieve great things at this year’s edition. For Sri Lanka, though, it was more about how a top-class outfit exploited the shortcomings that existed in their ranks. Not only did the Proteas do so convincingly, they also showed Sri Lanka how far they needed to traverse to consistently challenge the top teams in this format.

Since then, the Islanders have turned a corner. They breezed through Round 1 and then made light work of Bangladesh at Sharjah. Though they did find their match in Australia on Thursday, the Sri Lankans have largely enjoyed a campaign they can be proud of. However, that doesn’t mean they will be satisfied with being an also-ran at this tournament because, well, that certainly isn’t the way Sri Lanka have played their cricket over the years. From that perspective, the fixture against South Africa is the ideal chance to show the world how far they’ve come since being hammered by the Proteas.

South Africa, on the other hand, would want to illustrate that the series victory against Sri Lanka wasn’t an aberration and that they have the quality and wherewithal to make such performances the norm. So far, they’ve not been at their best but have still found ways to compete. They almost pulled a victory out of the fire against Australia and were clinical in their run-chase against the West Indies. A few off-field issues have threatened to mar their campaign. But they seem to have put those behind them, meaning that the Proteas might be quietly confident of emerging relatively unscathed from this group.

For that to happen, they need to stitch together a few victories. And, after what transpired against the defending champions, they would hope that they can continue the trend and inch closer to that elusive semi-final berth.

T20 World Cup 2021 South Africa squad: Full team list for SA

T20 World Cup 2021 Sri Lanka squad: Full team list for SL

T20 World Cup 2021 South Africa v Sri Lanka: Where to watch live

India: Star Sports Network; Disney+ Hotstar

UK & Ireland: Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Mix; Sky Sports app, www.skysports.com

Sri Lanka: Star Sports, Siyatha TV

South Africa: S Cricket, S Grandstand, S Variety 1 and S CSN

The complete list of broadcast (TV and live streaming) options for the tournament can be found here.