Sri Lanka won their Twenty20 World Cup opening fixture by five runs at the expense of South Africa in Chittagong this afternoon.
It was Sri Lanka that won the toss and opted to bat, and it initially seemed the correct decision when opener Kusal Perera made 61 runs from 40 deliveries.
However, his partners Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara made just 23 runs between them, as the South African bowling unit started to stifle the batting side.
That changed, though, when all-rounder Angelo Matthews came to the crease and made a quickfire 42 before he was bowled by Dale Steyn, which helped his team to post a total of 165-7 from their 20 overs.
In reply, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla made 25 and 23 respectively, before JP Duminy contributed a knock of 39 from 30 balls when his innings was ended by Dilshan.
It meant that the South Africans went into the final over requiring 15 runs to reach their target, but they fell five short having lost eight wickets.
Liam Apicella
