David Miller hammered two sixes off Lahiru Kumara for two sixes as South Africa brush aside Sri Lanka in an edge-of-the-seat thriller in Sharjah. In a contest full of twists and turns, South Africa needed 15 to win off the last over, minutes after Wanindu Hasaranga's hat-trick.
Experienced Miller (23 from 13 deliveries) held his nerves as South Africa prevailed to win it by four wickets and add two more points under their belt.
Chasing 143, the South Africa batting unit was rocked by Hasaranga's blows, who also removed a set Temba Bavuma for 46. Hasaranga's flourish was all gone in the final over when Miller turned the outcome of the contest with two sixes. South Africa now have four points from three games and are sitting third in the Group 1 points table.
Hasaranga's hat-trick
Four years ago in 2017, Hasaranga had picked an ODI hat-trick against Zimbabwe on his debut. The tweaker repeated the feat in the T20 World Cup 2021, becoming the second bowler after Curtis Campher to take three in three. Skipper Temba Bavuma's departure added a twist in the tale.
Dwaine Pretorius perished on the next delivery, making Hasaranga the third bowler after Brett Lee (2007) and Curtis Campher (2021) to take a hat-trick in T20 World Cup.
He could have made it four in four but the delivery that was pitching outside gave batter Kagiso Rabada a lifeline. Hasaranga, however, had done his job of adding unpredictability towards the end. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowler finished with figures of 3/20 in his four overs.
Shamsi scripts new record
Tabraiz Shamsi spun his web against Sri Lanka to restrict them under 150. While it was Anrich Nortje who drew first blood, Shamsi rocked the Lankan batting force with three quick wickets. Shamsi was off for a celebratory run after removing Rajapaksa for a duck.
The tweaker lobbed a return catch of his own bowling to dismiss Rajapaksa to leave the opposition tottering at 62/3. In the next two overs, Shamsi struck not once but twice to peg the opposition back. Sri Lanka sunk further after Shamsi removed Avishka Fernando (3 from 5 balls) and then plucked the wicket of Wanindu Hasaranga (4 off 5 deliveries) to record a three-fer. Everyime Sri Lanka looked to gain some momentum, Shamsi disrupted them with a wicket.
The 31-year-old finished with figures of 3/17 and also broke the record for most T20I wickets in a calendar year. Shamsi registered his 32nd wicket of the year to break the record held by Uganda's Dinesh Nakrani (2021) and Australia's Andrew Tye (2018), who took 31 wickets each.
Nissanka holds fort
Pathum Nissanka, who hit his second T20 half century, continued his fearless approach with the bat to help his side notch up a competitive total. Had it not been Nissanka's contribution, the Lankan innings would've wrapped up in the 120s, turning the contest into a lop-sided one.
Nissanka smacked 6 fours and 3 sixes en route 58-ball 72 before falling prey to Pretorius in the penultimate over. It just kept getting better for the right-hander, who hammered Kagiso Rabada for a six and two fours in the 18th over. A maximum smoked over deep mid-wicket was the gear-shifting momentum for Nissanka.
