After restricting Sri Lanka to a lowly total, skipper Faf du Plessis and opener Hashim Amla shared a huge unbeaten stand of 175 runs to guide South Africa to a nine-wicket win over the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side in the 35th match of the 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Stree on Friday.
Opting to field first, Dwaine Pretorius (three for 25) and Chris Morris (three for 46) produced a terrific performance with the ball to help South Africa bundle Sri Lanka out for a paltry score of 203 in 49.3 overs.
Besides the duo, Kagiso Rabada bagged a two-wicket haul, while JP Duminy and Andile Phehlukwayo also chipped in with a wicket each.
For Sri Lanka, Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando were the highest scorers for Sri Lanka with 30 runs each.
Chasing the target, Amla (80 off 105 balls) and Du Plessis (96 off 103 balls) not only notched up blistering half-centuries but also shared a mammoth 175-run union for the second wicket to help their side cross the mark in just 37.2 overs.
Sri Lanka will now have to win their remaining two matches against West Indies and India and hope for a collective collapse from England, Pakistan and Bangladesh in order to make it into the semi-final of the mega event.
Let us take a look at the list of players with most sixes, fours, best batting average and best bowling figures after South Africa vs Sri Lanka clash:
Most Sixes
England captain Eoin Morgan is comfortably standing at the top spot in the list of players with most sixes in the ongoing 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup.
Morgan created a world record of most sixes by a player in an ODI inning when he scored 17 maximums during England's 2019 World Cup match against Afghanistan at the Old Trafford in Manchester on June 18. He has a total of 22 sixes to his name from six innings he has played so far.
Australian skipper Aaron Finch and West Indies swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle are placed at the second and third spots with 18 and 10 sixes, respectively.
| Pos | Player | Team | 6s | Matches | Innings | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eoin Morgan | ENG | 22 | 7 | 6 | 274 |
| 2 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 18 | 7 | 7 | 496 |
| 3 | Chris Gayle | WI | 10 | 7 | 6 | 200 |
| 4 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 7 | 5 | 5 | 338 |
| 5 | Carlos Brathwaite | WI | 7 | 6 | 4 | 132 |
| 6 | Jos Buttler | ENG | 6 | 7 | 6 | 222 |
| 7 | Ben Stokes | ENG | 6 | 7 | 7 | 291 |
| 8 | David Warner | AUS | 6 | 7 | 7 | 500 |
| 9 | Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 6 | 7 | 7 | 142 |
| 10 | Rassie van der Dussen | SA | 6 | 8 | 5 | 215 |
Most Fours
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is holding the record of most boundaries in the ongoing cricket's showpiece event. Shakib is leading the list with a total of 48 fours from six matches.
Australian opener David Warner occupies the second spot after scoring 46 fours in a total of 500 runs he amassed from seven matches. Though Australian skipper Aaron Finch also has 46 boundaries to his name from seven matches, he is placed at the third position after scoring fewer runs than Warner.
| Pos | Player | Team | 4s | Matches | Innings | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 48 | 6 | 6 | 476 |
| 2 | David Warner | AUS | 46 | 7 | 7 | 500 |
| 3 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 46 | 7 | 7 | 496 |
| 4 | Joe Root | ENG | 37 | 7 | 7 | 432 |
| 5 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 37 | 6 | 5 | 414 |
| 6 | Babar Azam | PAK | 34 | 6 | 6 | 333 |
| 7 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 31 | 5 | 5 | 338 |
| 8 | Jonny Bairstow | ENG | 30 | 7 | 7 | 245 |
| 9 | Faf du Plessis | SA | 29 | 8 | 7 | 287 |
| 10 | Ben Stokes | ENG | 27 | 7 | 7 | 291 |
Best batting average
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson continues to maintain the best batting average in the 2019 ICC World Cup. Williamson has sscored a total of 414 runs in five innings he played at a batting average of 138.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and India's Rohit Sharma are standing at the second and third positions with the batting average of 95.20 and 84.50, respectively.
| Pos | Player | Team | Avg | Matches | Innings | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 138.00 | 6 | 5 | 414 |
| 2 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 95.20 | 6 | 6 | 476 |
| 3 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 84.50 | 5 | 5 | 338 |
| 4 | David Warner | AUS | 83.33 | 7 | 7 | 500 |
| 5 | Joe Root | ENG | 72.00 | 7 | 7 | 432 |
| 6 | Jason Roy | ENG | 71.66 | 4 | 3 | 215 |
| 7 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 70.85 | 7 | 7 | 496 |
| 8 | Babar Azam | PAK | 66.60 | 6 | 6 | 333 |
| 9 | Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 65.40 | 6 | 6 | 327 |
| 10 | Liton Das | BAN | 65.00 | 3 | 3 | 130 |
Best bowling figures
Shakib Al Hasan's career-best figures of five for 29 against Afghanistan at the Ageas Bowl on Monday still remains the best bowling figures of the 2019 edition of the marquee event.
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir and New Zealand's Jimmy Neesham occupy the second and third spots after bagging five wickets each while conceding 30 and 31 runs, respectively.
| Pos | Player | Team | Avg | Against | Venue | Match Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 5/29 | AFG | The Ageas Bowl | 24/06/2019 |
| 2 | Mohammad Amir | PAK | 5/30 | AUS | The County Ground | 12/06/2019 |
| 3 | Jimmy Neesham | NZ | 5/31 | AFG | The County Ground | 08/06/2019 |
| 4 | Jason Behrendorff | AUS | 5/44 | ENG | Lord's Cricket Ground | 25/06/2019 |
| 5 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 5/46 | WI | Trent Bridge | 06/06/2019 |
| 6 | Mohammed Shami | IND | 4/16 | WI | Old Trafford | 27/06/2019 |
| 7 | Oshane Thomas | WI | 4/27 | PAK | Trent Bridge | 31/05/2019 |
| 8 | Imran Tahir | SA | 4/29 | AFG | Cardiff Wales Stadium | 15/06/2019 |
| 9 | Trent Boult | NZ | 4/30 | WI | Old Trafford | 22/06/2019 |
| 10 | Mohammad Nabi | AFG | 4/30 | SL | Cardiff Wales Stadium | 04/06/2019 |
Best bowling strike-rate
Indian fast bowler Mohammad Shami currently holds the record of best bowling strike rate in the 2019 World Cup. Shami maintains the bowling strike rate of 12.12 after just two innings he played for the Men in Blue so far to stand ahead of the Australian duo of Jason Behrendorff (19.00 strike rate in two games) and Mitchell Starc (20.42 in seven innings)
| Pos | Player | Team | SR | Matches | Innings | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohammad Shami | IND | 12.12 | 2 | 2 | 56 |
| 2 | Jason Behrendorff | AUS | 19.00 | 2 | 2 | 103 |
| 3 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 20.42 | 7 | 7 | 347 |
| 4 | Jimmy Neesham | NZ | 20.57 | 6 | 5 | 131 |
| 5 | Mohammad Amir | PAK | 21.00 | 6 | 6 | 286 |
| 6 | Kane Richardson | AUS | 21.20 | 2 | 2 | 109 |
| 7 | Lockie Ferguson | NZ | 21.46 | 6 | 6 | 267 |
| 8 | Andre Russell | WI | 22.60 | 4 | 4 | 97 |
| 9 | Mark Wood | ENG | 23.76 | 6 | 6 | 262 |
| 10 | Jofra Archer | ENG | 23.93 | 7 | 7 | 325 |
A total of 10 teams-- England, India, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, South Africa, West Indies, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are playing in the 2019 edition of the cricket's showpiece event.
