South Africa romped to victory over the hosts in a match that was reduced to seven overs per side
Preamble It's a bit early to be quaffing 7 and 7s, so let's try, er, the next best thing: a Seven7 between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Hambantota. There has been a lot of rain, hence the reduced match, but it looks like we will start at 1.30pm British time. Excuse the Sky Sports News-esque hype, but it my duty to report that this game is almost entirely meaningless. Those who have staked their entire copper jar on Ajantha Mendis to be the tournament's top wicket-taker might think otherwise.
Sri Lanka have won the toss and will bowl first. That makes sense in a short game, as they will know precisely what they need to chase. Ajantha Mendis misses out with side knack; Rangana Herath comes in. The batting orders will doubtless be fiddled with, given the seven-over format.
Sri Lanka Munaweera, Dilshan, Jayawardene (c), Sangakkara (wk), Mathews, Thirimanne, Perera, J Mendis, Kulasekara, Herath, Malinga.
South Africa Levi, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers (c/wk), Duminy, du Plessis, Behardien, A Morkel, Botha, Steyn, M Morkel.
This may well be the first OBO to be read by precisely nobody. Am I wrong?
So what's a good score in Seven7? 70? 90? 100? Maybe 10 is a good score. England, bless them, were nine for none after seven overs against South Africa at the 2007 World Cup.
WICKET! South Africa 4-1 (Levi c b Kulasekera 4) Tony Greig is going doolally in the commentary box after a fantastic catch from Munaweera. Levi spooned a slower ball from Kulasekera high in the air, and Munaweera sprinted back from mid-on before diving forward to take a beauty.
1st over of seven: South Africa 8-1 (Amla 5, du Plessis 0) Amla slaps his first ball over cover for four. "Not that I'm in the market for the Guardian Soulmates site, Rob, but that pic of Chis Gayle on the West Indies OBO with just 'Preamble: Hello' underneath was there for a tantalisingly long time. Is it a deliberate cross-promotion thing?" What can I say. We all get a little lonely sometimes.
2nd over of seven: South Africa 21-1 (Amla 15, du Plessis 0) Amla drives Lasith Malinga's first ball supremely over extra cover for four – and does it again to the fourth ball. Both were beautiful, orthodox shots. Amla would even look elegant in a game of One1. He'd probably look elegant in a game of Twister. What a player. "7Seven?" sniffs Guy Hornsby. "This is basically a few super overs isn't it? Personally, I'm looking forward to the boring middle overs. I may put a cuppa on."
WICKET! South Africa 27-2 (Amla st Sangakkara b Herath 16) A marvellous stumping from Kumar Sangakkara gets rid of Hashim Amla. He charged Rangana Herath and missed a wild heave across the line. So much for elegance. Sangakkara, despite being unsighted, took the ball down the leg side and had the bails off in a flash.
3rd over of seven: South Africa 27-2 (du Plessis 6, de Villiers 0) "Afternoon Rob!" says the ever chirpy Ryan Dunne. "I'm reading, although I probably wont stay for the whole thing (I've still to watch the Mel Brooks edition of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee) . My apologies if you were planning to bunk off from OBO duties and hope nobody noticed ;)"
4th over of seven: South Africa 35-2 (du Plessis 12, de Villiers 2) Mathews is the latest bowler. Munaweera at mid-on misses a chance to run out de Villiers. South Africa aren't really swinging at everything; they have been content to work the ball around a pretty large outfield. Nine from Mathews' over, none in boundaries.
"Yes, you're wrong!" says Julia Gilbertson. I think she's referring to the suggestion that nobody is reading, although it's the fairest cop on a few thousand other counts as well.
5th over of seven: South Africa 50-2 (du Plessis 13, de Villiers 16) Do these now count as the death overs, or do we have to wait for the sixth over of the innings for that? This is a death over in nature if not name, because Herath has disappeared for 15. de Villiers reverse swept his first ball for four – the first boundary since the second over – and then hoicked a mighty six over long on. He has 14 from six; du Plessis has 15 from 11.
WICKET! South Africa 65-3 (de Villiers c Mendis b Malinga 30) The fearlessness and raw talent – genius, even – of de Villiers is perfect for a shortened game like this. He slaughters Lasith Malinga over midwicket for six, scampers four consecutive twos – and then drives to mid off to end a superb cameo of 30 from only 13 balls.
6th over of seven: South Africa 65-3 (du Plessis 13, Duminy 0) "The thing is, Rob, Greigy is morphing into his 12th Man lampoon at an extraordinary rate of knots," says Rob Jacques. "It's like a dog's owner growing to look like his pet. Marvellous." Morvellous indeed.
WICKET! South Africa 68-4 (du Plessis c Mendis b Perera 13) Faf du Plessis drills Perera straight to long off. This is turning into a great last over for Sri Lanka, with just three runs from the first four balls.
7th over of seven: South Africa 78-4 (Duminy 12, A Morkel 0) Duminy scoops the penultimate delivery over his shoulder for a one-bounce four before smashing the last ball down the ground for six! He ends with 12 from five balls, and South Africa have set an imposing target of 79. See you in approximately 14 seconds' time for Sri Lanka's run-chase.
INNINGS BREAK
WICKET! Sri Lanka 4-1 (Dilshan run out 0) Tillakaratne Dilshan is run out without facing. Jayawardene, who has pushed himself up the order, wanted a quick single to extra cover. Dilshan was ballwatching and set off late. The throw went in to de Villiers, who ran forward and dived to break the stumps. It wasn't quite the full Jonty Rhodes but that was still a brilliant piece of keeping. There was a collision between de Villiers and Dilshan, with both men diving into each other. That could have been pretty unpleasant but they both seem to be okay.
1st over: Sri Lanka 5-1 (target 79 from seven overs; Jayawardene 4, Munaweera 1) Jayawardene was also fortunate to survive a big LBW shout first ball. It was hitting the top of leg stump. "I'll be here for the whole match just in case there's a nail-biting finish," says Clare Davies. "Also I've nothing else to do until after 3pm. It's already been worth it as SL got Amla's wicket and it's a rare treat to see him leave the field!"
WICKET! Sri Lanka 8-2 (Jayawardene c Behardien b Steyn 4) An outstanding over from Steyn, in which he beat the bat three times, concludes with the big wicket of Mahela Jayawardene. He lifted the ball high in the air on the leg side, and Behardien at deep midwicket took a straightforward catch.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 8-2 (target 79 from seven overs; Munaweera 4, Sangakkara 0) Sri Lanka need 71 from 30 balls. Best of luck with that, gentlemen. "Why has the match been reduced to seven overs each?" says Michael Bulley. "As far as I can see, no other match is scheduled for later today on the ground. So why couldn't they carry on and have 20 overs each? It would finish before the Aus / WI match, which is being played elsewhere." I assume it's for TV. If they played a 20-over match it would cross over with the West Indies game, which starts in half an hour. And I'd have to write two OBOs at the same time.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 13-2 (target 79 from seven overs; Munaweera 6, Sangakkara 2) Sri Lanka can't get going against South Africa's outstanding new-ball pair. Munaweera misses a mow at a beauty from Morne Morkel that only just shaves the of stump – and then Sangakkara is dropped du Plessis. He sliced a leg-side slap miles in the air towards third man, where the usually flawless du Plessis spilled a difficult running chance. Only five from the over, however, and now Sri Lanka need 16.5 runs per over.
4th over: Sri Lanka 22-2 (target 79 from seven overs; Munaweera 7, Sangakkara 10) Sangakkara drives Botha inside out for four, a high-class stroke. One boundary from the over is not enough, however. Sri Lanka require 57 from 18 balls to win.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 30-3 (Sangakkara c de Villiers b Kallis 13 Jacques Kallis snares yet another wicket. Kumar Sangakkara was dropped earlier in the over, a dolly to Albie Morkel, but fell when he top edged a disgusting swipe to AB de Villiers.
5th over: Sri Lanka 31-3 (target 79 from seven overs; Munaweera 11, Perera 1) Sri Lanka need 48 from two overs. Twelve fours, job done.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 32-4 (Perera c Duminy b Steyn 1) Perera slogs Steyn straight to deep midwicket. Sri Lanka need 47 from 10 balls.
6th over: Sri Lanka 38-4 (target 79 from seven overs; Munaweera 12, Mendis 5) Dale Steyn ends with figures of 2-0-10-2. Sri Lanka require 41 from the last over to win.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 40-5 (Munaweera c Behardien b A Morkel 13) Munaweera cuts Albie Morkel straight to the cover sweeper.
7th over: Sri Lanka 46-5. SOUTH AFRICA WIN BY 32 RUNS That's a mighty margin of victory in a seven-over game and, although you shouldn't read too much into such games, South Africa look lean and mean at the moment. Thanks for your emails; I'm off to OBO the Australia/West Indies match. Bye!