Sri Lanka's player laying face down on the ground to avoid a swarm of bees that have come across the ground during the Cricket World Cup match between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Photo / AP
Sri Lanka's player laying face down on the ground to avoid a swarm of bees that have come across the ground during the Cricket World Cup match between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Photo / AP
Sri Lanka hurt their slim semi-final chances with a nine-wicket loss to South Africa while a swarm of bees disrupted the action. Here's everything you need to know from the overnight action.
South Africa destroy Sri Lanka
Remove one more side from the Black Caps' list of semifinal rivals.
A World Cup semifinal spot seems a long way off for a Sri Lanka lineup that lost its captain on the first ball and then slumped to a nine-wicket loss to South Africa at Durham.
While Sri Lanka can still make the semifinals, they now cannot pass the Black Caps, sitting five points behind New Zealand with just two games to go. That leaves just England, and one of Bangladesh or Pakistan, as the teams who can bump the Black Caps out of the semifinals.
South Africa lost only one wicket — Quinton de Kock (15) bowled by a trademark Lasith Malinga yorker — while chasing down 203 with more than 12 overs to spare.
Skipper Faf du Plessis scored 96 and Hashim Amla was 80 in an unbeaten 175-run stand, easily South Africa's best of the tournament. Du Plessis posted his third half-century of the tournament with a single from Suranga Lakmal, then drove the next delivery over temporary broadcasting scaffolding and out of the ground, requiring a used replacement ball for the rest of the match.
Swarm of bees disrupt match
There was a bit of a buzz for a while, but it didn't last long. A swarm of bees halted the game in the 48th over. All the players and both umpires went to ground, face down, to avoid any stings before play continued
The Players and Match Officials lie on the floor to avoid a swarm of bees during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Photo / Getty Images.
This actually isn't even the first time a game between these two sides has been delayed for bees—it happened at a game in Johannesburg just two years ago.
, Grant Elliott said he doesn't expect big changes after the Black Caps' loss.
"There's no need to panic despite the fact the Black Caps' World Cup campaign received its first cruel blow in the comprehensive defeat to Pakistan.
"One loss does not make this a poor team overnight and the reality is we were simply outplayed by a better team on the day - I rate Pakistan's all-round bowling attack as the best in the competition and on a pitch that suited them, they managed to expose fragilities in our batting lineup that, perhaps, weren't evident before.
"Like most fans, I'm disappointed that the Black Caps have made qualifying for the semifinals a whole lot tougher. Victory would have seen safe passage to the final four but instead, they now have to beat at least one of the tournament heavyweights - Australia and England - or rely on other teams to crash out. In tournament cricket, you want to be in control of your destiny and though the Black Caps still are, defeat to the Aussies at Lord's on Sunday could be a Rubicon moment.
"It's only natural to want to see changes after a crushing defeat like the one in Birmingham, but there's a real danger in overreacting. I'm a big believer in backing the players you have as consistency in selection breeds confidence and confident players are dangerous. Too many changes lead to anxiety and you can't afford that when you're reaching the sharp end of the World Cup.
"Besides, the time for experimentation has passed - if head coach Gary Stead and his fellow selectors were going to make wholesale changes, Pakistan was the game to do it."
Vettori: Boult NZ's main man against Aussie
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has pinpointed star seamer Trent Boult as the player who needs to step up if the Black Caps are to take down Australia at the Cricket World Cup.
The two sides clash at Lord's this weekend in a game which could potentially be a semifinal preview, and with the Black Caps coming off a defeat where they were outplayed by Pakistan.
On the other side of the ledger, Australia have won their last four games, including a dominant win over England, and have an opening partnership that has been crushing all-comers.
David Warner and Aaron Finch have combined for 642 runs as an opening pair at the World Cup, at an average opening stand of 91. That's remarkably three times as many runs as the next most profitable pairing – Pakistan's Imam ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman – and Vettori sees removing the Aussie openers cheaply as New Zealand's biggest challenge.
Vettori pegs Boult as the man for the job.
"He bowls exceptionally well to left-handers, in fact he bowls exceptionally well to everyone. If the conditions suit him at Lord's, then they will really push him out there as an attacking weapon to try to break through that opening partnership that Australia have relied on."
The Alternative Commentary Collective are podcasting their way through the World Cup. Known for their unconventional sports analysis and off-kilter banter, the ACC have come to ask the tough questions. Here's the latest episode of 'The Agenda':
