New Delhi

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka found his batting form in the loss against South Africa during the ODI World Cup 2023 match on October 7 in New Delhi. Chasing 429, Sri Lanka kept South Africa on toes for a decent part of their innings and Shanaka played a crucial role in extending the Lankan innings with a fifty.

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His 62-ball 68 weren't flawless as he top edged a lot of shots instead of middling the ball. During the 37th over of the chase, bowled by South African Gerald Coetzee, Shanaka changed gears and hit the bowler for a six and four consecutive fours. Have a look at the sensational over below:

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Before hitting the daylights out of Coetzee, Shanaka was batting on 31 off 45 balls. After that 23-run over, he was batting with a strike rate of over 100 with 54 off 51 balls. The skipper, however, didn't last long after that and got out in the 40th over. 

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Sri Lanka eventually lost the game by 102 runs but South Africa would have liked the difference to be more after posting the highest total ever in an ODI World Cup match.

Earlier, the Lankans didn't have a good start of their innings, losing Pathum Nissanka in the second over itself. Kusal Mendis then scored a belligerent 76 off 42 with eight sixes to jump start the Sri Lankan innings.

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The South African bowlers, often wayward, managed to take wickets at regular intervals to derail the Lankan chase. Asalanka (79) and Shanaka (68) dug in well to extend the innings but once they were out, the Proteas closed the game quickly.

Before that, South Africa were put in to bat after losing the toss and centuries from de Kock (100), van der Dusses (108) and Markram's (106) fastest ton the World Cup took them to 428/5 in 50 overs.