Dilshan stars in victory

Tillakaratne Dilshan produced a superb all-round effort as Sri Lanka defeated South Africa by 87 runs in the second one-day international to send the three-game series to a decider. Dilshan struck a brisk 86 to help the home side score 267 in 49.2 overs, and then grabbed 3-40 as South Africa was bowled out for 180 in 38.1 overs. For South Africa, Hashim Amla produced a second consecutive century but his 101 went in vain as he did not receive support from other batsmen, who were tormented by Lasith Malinga (4-24) in both the early and late overs. Opener Dilshan set the tone for Sri Lanka with a solid knock and was supported well by Mahela Jayawardene (48) in the middle overs. Dilshan, who is known to relish the conditions here, was closing in on a sixth century in 11 games at Pallekele when he was bowled behind the legs by off-spinner JP Duminy. "I really enjoy playing in Pallekele," Dilshan said. "I got the message that 260-270 was a good total, and the ball really turned later in the evening." South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir removed batsmen Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimanne (36), while seam bowler Ryan McLaren triggered a mini collapse down the order to stem the flow of late runs with a haul of 4-48. Dilshan, who survived a sharp chance on 22 when he hit a return catch to Dale Steyn, struck nine fours during his 37th ODI half-century, and was in a useful 61-ran stand for the third wicket with Thirimanne. Tahir had Thirimanne caught at deep square leg, and also accounted for a well-set Jayawardene, bowling the veteran with a pitched up googly. McLaren dismissed captain Angelo Mathews (34), Priyanjan (25) and Nuwan Kulasekara (0) in the same over, the 47th of the innings, and also removed Ajantha Mendis (2) in the 49th.

But the South African reply was undermined from the start, by Malinga. He bowled left-handed opener Quinton de Kock for 4 and had veteran Jacques Kallis caught behind on 1 by Kumar Sangakkara, playing a hook shot. A dangerous-looking, 75-run, third-wicket partnership between Amla and captain AB de Villiers (29) was then broken by Dilshan, who lured de Villiers with a tossed up delivery which the batsman hit straight down to the fielder at long-on. Dilshan also removed big-hitting batsman David Miller for 4, and with Ajantha Mendis having already removed Duminy for 1, South Africa was struggling at 109-5 in the 22nd over. Amla, who had scored 109 in South Africa's 75-run in the first ODI in Colombo, continued doggedly despite seeing little hope. He added 53 runs for the eighth wicket with Dale Steyn (23), during which he got to his 14th ODI century. Amla struck 11 fours off 102 balls but perished to Malinga in the batting power-play to end any hopes of a closer contest. "Hash (Amla) played an amazing innings but there weren't enough partnerships around him," de Villiers said. "Dale showed that if you spent enough time (in the middle) you could do it." The third and final match is on Saturday at Hambantota.

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