Twitter Reactions: South Africa clinch the final T20I by 10 wickets to whitewash hosts 3-0

South Africa dominated Sri Lanka once again in the third and the final T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday, September 14. The Proteas openers ensured that Sri Lankan bowlers didn’t get an opening as South Africa cruised to a 10-wicket win. With this, Keshav Maharaj and co. whitewashed the series 3-0. 

After losing the two first two games, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat first. Much like the second T20I, the batting never really got going. Within the first four overs, Sri Lanka were 28 for 3 and desperately in need of a partnership. Kusal Perera got set on one end but was dismissed for 39 runs when it was time to get on and make a big total.

His wicket on 80 for 4 suddenly changed the game drastically as the hosts slipped to 86 for 7 in quick succession, letting Proteas take a huge advantage over them. From here on, Sri Lanka was always playing the catching game. They followed up their poor batting display in the previous match, when they managed only 103, with a mediocre score of 120 for 8 in this match. It was a cameo by Chamika Karunaratne of 24 runs from 19 balls, which took them to that score. 

Quinton de Kock’s second fifty in a row guides Proteas home once again

South Africa’s bowling was quite good once again and stand-in skipper Maharaj was once again perfect with his tactics of using the right bowler at the right time. He himself picked up one wicket, while Wiaan Mulder and Aiden Markram also got a scalp each. Bjorn Fortuin was fantastic with the ball up front, taking two wickets and conceding 21 runs only in his four overs. Kagiso Rabada took two wickets in his three overs for 23 runs as well. 

In the second T20I, Reeza Hendricks got out after an opening stand of 62 runs, but this time he stayed with Quinton de Kock till the end knocking off 121 runs in just 14.4 overs. Hendricks ended with 56 runs from 42 balls, with five fours and one six. Senior statesman and wicketkeeper de Kock followed up his unbeaten 58 in the last game with 59 runs in the final game, guiding his team home once again. His efforts got him the award for man of the match and man of the series. 

Here are some of the Twitter reactions from the game