Cricket
Firdose Moonda, South Africa correspondent, ESPNcricinfo 7y

The mysterious mobile phone at Newlands

Cricket, Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2016

The one that stuck

Sri Lanka have struggled to take their chances throughout this tour, but clung on to one of the few they got this time. Quinton de Kock looked in imperious form and was on 55 when he walked out to meet a Sachitra Pathirana delivery. But the ball dipped on him and took the edge that flew to the left of stand-in captain Upul Tharanga, who dived to his left at slip and held on with both hands. De Kock's excellent record of converting fifties to hundreds was dented but it needed some proper commitment to ensure he did not bat on.

Dig this out

Faf du Plessis had barely received a challenging ball on his way to his second century in the series, until he was on 98. Lahiru Kumara, whose first four overs cost 32 runs, sent down a toe-crusher on leg stump that would have uprooted it, but du Plessis had luck on his side. Not only did he get the bat down in time, but he dug the ball out with such force that it raced to fine leg for four. He fell over in the process but found his feet and raised his arms in time to celebrate his milestone.

Cricket Calling

South African grounds have provided entertainment other than what's happening on-field to create incentives for more people to come and watch. There's been everything from cook-offs to fancy dress to a bee invasion and today, there was a mobile phone. In the 36th over of the South African innings, a cellphone found its way onto the outfield. Who put it there? And who were they trying to call? Perhaps only Sri Lanka's 12th man will know. He passed the phone to a man in the crowd - but was it really his?

Going for the record

After timing the ball magnificently for two-and-a-half hours, Faf du Plessis found himself a shot away from history... and mishit. He was aiming to clear the long-on boundary off the second ball of the final over but did not get enough power behind the shot. Although the fielder had to make some ground, he took the catch. In hindsight, du Plessis may have been better off hitting the ball along the ground, where it may still have found the rope and seen him overtake Gary Kirsten's record for the highest score by a South African in ODIs.

Double delight

Upul Tharanga's clean-hitting made for as eye-catching a contest as anyone would have hoped for but there was one shot that was memorable not just because it was meatily struck. The 73rd ball Tharanga faced was effortlessly lofted over long-on and brought up two much-needed milestones for Sri Lanka. It took their total to 190 - their highest in the ODI series thus far - and gave them their first centurion in any format on this tour.

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