August 22  
Sri Lanka win Morocco Cup but lose captain Jayasuriya to injury

TANGIERS: Sri Lanka defeated South Africa by 27 runs in the Morocco Cup final here on Wednesday but paid a heavy price when captain Sanath Jayasuriya was injured. Jayasuriya, whose run-a-ball 71 enabled Sri Lanka to post 235-7 in the morning session, dislocated his right shoulder early in South Africa's reply which ended at 208 all out.  The Sri Lankan captain fell on his shoulder while taking a catch off Herschelle Gibbs in the third over, and x-rays at a nearby hospital revealed a dislocation and torn ligaments.

TANGIERS: Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya plays a shot during Morocco Cup final against South Africa on August 21, 2002.

Jayasuriya has only a "50-50" chance of playing in the International Cricket Council's Champions Trophy which Sri Lanka hosts from September 12, according to team physiotherapist Alex Kontouri. 

Sri Lanka, however, bravely regrouped after the loss of their in-form captain, who was later named man of the series for scoring 300 runs from five innings and claiming four wickets. 

They reduced South Africa to 91-6 by the 26th over, slicing through the top order with wickets at regular intervals. Boeta Dippenaar and Mark Boucher raised visions of a miraculous South African win by smashing 101 off 112 balls for the seventh wicket. 

Dippenaar hit 53 before he was out caught in the deep off Pulasthi Gunaratne with 44 still needed off 34 balls. 
Boucher cracked 70 from 65 balls but failed to secure victory when he was last out, caught behind off Gunaratne in the 49th over. 

Gunaratne was well-supported by Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, all three bowlers claiming two wickets each. Sri Lanka, who lost both the Test and one-day series on the England tour earlier in the summer, were rewarded for their efforts with the champions' purse of 120,000 dollars. Shaun Pollock's South Africa received 80,000 dollars, while Pakistan who were ousted at the league stage, took home 50,000 dollars. 

The Sri Lankans loooked set for a massive first innings score when they rode on Jayasuriya's blitz to reach 167-2 in the 33rd over. But a middle-order collapse, mainly through reckless strokeplay, saw five wickets tumble for 42 runs and allow South Africa to come back in the game. 

Allan Donald, Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje finished with two wickets each as Sri Lanka managed only 43 runs in the last 10 overs. But even the modest target of 4.7 runs an over proved beyond South Africa's reach after Jayasuriya's diving catch off Gibbs at mid-off. 

Klusener, a surprise opener after Pollock said on Tuesday he would bat lower in the order, hammered 13 off 11 balls before missing the line of a slow full toss from Dilhara Fernando to be declared leg-before. Graeme Smith played on to Vaas, before acting captain Marvan Atapattu caught Jacques Kallis and ran out Jonty Rhodes with a direct throw to make it 81-5. 

Earlier, Sri Lanka began on a sound note as Jayasuriya and Atapattu belted 78 for the first wicket by the 15th over. The pair were severe on tall seamer Roger Telemachus, who conceded 36 runs in his first four overs as Sri Lanka raced to 48-0 after just eight overs. 

But the remaning batsman threw away their wickets with reckless shots, before Vaas and Muralitharan added a valuable 26 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket to boost the total.