South Africa registered a 3-0 clean sweep against Sri Lanka on Keshav Maharaj’s debut T20I series as captain as well as a player following a humiliating 10-wicket win in the third and final T20I at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Chasing a below-par 121, Quinton de Kock (59* in 46 balls) and Reeza Hendricks (56* in 42) did not have any difficulty at all from ball one. They made the contest completely one-sided with time, and took South Africa past the finishing line with 10 wickets and 32 balls to spare.
Earlier, Sri Lanka lost Avishka Fernando (12), Dhananjaya de Silva (1), and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (5) inside four overs after opting to bat. Kamindu Mendis (10) and Kusal Perera steadied the ship, but failed to shift the gear during their 34-run stand. Sri Lanka were 62/4 at the halfway mark.
Kusal Perera showed composure from one end, as he did in the last game. But his 33-ball 39, laced with three fours, came to an end when Maharaj trapped him leg before in the 13th over. At No. 9, Chamika Karunaratne played a breezy cameo (24* in 19 balls) to help Sri Lanka reach 120, which had never been a defendable total against the in-form South African batters.
Maharaj bowled a maiden in his 1-14, while Bjorn Fortuin and Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets each. Tabraiz Shamsi went for less than seven runs an over, but failed to take any wicket.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 120/8 in 20 overs (Kusal Perera 39; Bjorn Fortuin 2-21) lost to South Africa 121/0 in 14.4 overs (Quinton de Kock 59*) by 10 wickets with 32 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Quinton de Kock.
South Africa won the series 3-0. Player of the Series: Quinton de Kock.