South Africa, inspired by JP Duminy’s hat-trick, surprisingly thrashed Sri Lanka by nine wickets for their maiden World Cup knockout win.
Sri Lanka, runners-up in 2007 and 2011, would at the very least have expected to give the Proteas a stiff test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the first of the quarter-finals.
Yet Duminy’s three in three, spread across two late-innings overs, complimented man of the match bowling from fellow spinner Imran Tahir, who returned 4-26.
Given South Africa’s reputation as ‘chokers’ in World Cup knockouts, there was no guarantee of them chasing 134. But Quinton de Kock’s return to form with a brisk 78 not out ensured victory with 32 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka’s elimination ends the one-day international careers of legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Sangakkara having top-scored today for his side with a steady 45 to follow up an ODI record four straight hundreds.
Winning the toss was about as good as it got for Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, with the surprise decision to promote Kusal Perera to opener backfiring when he edged Kyle Abbott behind for three in the second over.
Tillakaratne Dilshan fell to Dale Steyn at the start of the fifth over to leave Sri Lanka four for two in the face of some excellent new-ball bowling, before Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne – the man moved down the order to allow Kusal to open – rebuilt with a stand of 65.
However, once Thirimanne became the first of Tahir’s victims – caught and bowled trying to work the ball to long-on – there was little resistance from the 1996 winners.
Jayawardene made just four before handing a simple catch to Faf du Plessis at short midwicket off Tahir, before the same fielder held Mathews off Duminy to spark a collapse of four wickets in nine balls.
In the next over Tahir had Thisara Perera taken at slip, and Duminy had Nuwan Kulasekara caught at slip with the first ball of his next over before snaring Tharindu Kaushal leg before to complete his hat-trick.
Imran Tahir claims the Player of the Match for his outstanding Semi Final securing 4-26 #cwc15#TwitterMirror#SLvSApic.twitter.com/VG0UAI0uJ9
— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2015
With partners rapidly running out, Sangakkara holed out to third man off Morne Morkel, and when Lasith Malinga was caught at cover off Tahir the Sri Lankans had been rolled out for 133 with 12.4 overs unused.
With their long history of throwing away winning positions in World Cup knock-out games, South African supporters may have feared the worst when Hashim Amla picked out Kulasekara at third man off Malinga for 16 to leave the Proteas 40 for one.
But de Kock hammered 12 fours in his 57-ball innings, and du Plessis added a no-nonsense 21 at the other end to see South Africa home inside 18 overs.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers insists his side can now go all the way, having ended 23 years of heartache stretching back to a controversial rain-affected defeat against England at the SCG.
"I didn't have to say much, we were very motivated for this game,” said de Villiers. “The guys were in a really good space and they rocked up mentally.
“It was incredible the job the bowlers did up front.
“I'm quietly confident; I like to believe in big things. I truly believe we're going to go all the way, but for now we're just going to enjoy a beer and think about what's to come.”
A dejected Mathews admitted there was a sense of disappointment at not managing to give Sangakkara and Jayawardene a fitting send-off.
“It's disappointing not to make it a memorable one for them, to thank them for their services for 16-17 years,” he said. “The best thing would have been to get to the final but unfortunately that hasn't happened.
"We had to get 250 to give our bowlers a chance. This is the worst performance that we've had in the World Cup and it came in the quarter-final.”
.@OfficialSLC's @KumarSanga2& @MahelaJay bowed out of the ODI game today. #ThankYouSanga#ThankYouMahela#SkyCricketpic.twitter.com/Q7vkgg3PRW
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 18, 2015