Win just makes Proteas more rueful over the plane home

29 March 2016 - 02:27 By Telford Vice

It's not a good idea to draw conclusions from matches that don't matter - but South Africans would have found the temptation difficult to resist after their team's World T20 match against Sri Lanka in Delhi last night. That South Africa won by eight wickets with 14 balls to spare meant significantly less than the fact that both teams have been out of the running for the semi-finals since Saturday night, when the Lankans lost to England."I'm baffled," captain Faf du Plessis said, referring to South Africa's recent defeat by England in Mumbai, when they failed to defend 230."What do we need to do? It feels like one of those nightmares where you can't get your pads on and you can't get to the crease."You play that game 10 times in a row and you're probably going to lose once."But once was enough to put SA on a plane back home.Sri Lanka's total of 120 marked the first time in this World T20 that a team batting first had been bowled out. Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott and David Wiese combined for 3/55 in 8.3 overs.Perhaps that was the mix of bowlers South Africa should have put out there all along.AB de Villiers hit 20 not out that included the winning runs - a six over mid-wicket. Hashim Amla top-scored with 56 not out...

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