De Kock takes knee as South Africa beat Sri Lanka

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates (AP):

Quinton de Kock took a knee at the start and David Miller took charge at the end as South Africa beat Sri Lanka by four wickets with a ball to spare in their T20 World Cup this morning.

Miller hit two sixes in the last over as South Africa shrugged off a hat-trick from Wanindu Hasaranga, which left them struggling on 112-6 in the 18th over, to clinch a second victory in the Super 12 stage that keeps them in contention for the semi-finals.

The 32-year-old Miller launched his late attack with support from Kagiso Rabada to take his side beyond the target of 143.

Miller finished with 23 from 13 balls and South Africa ended up smiling after a week of turmoil following de Kock's decision to withdraw from Tuesday's game against West Indies in protest at players being told by the South African cricket board to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

De Kock returned to the team today after apologising and removed his cap and took a knee alongside all the other players on the field ahead of the start. He made 12 opening the batting.

“It’s quite hard to put everything that’s happened over the last couple of days behind us,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “There was a bit of it at the back of the mind, but we had a job to do and we had to dig deep."

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