Dilshan ambushes SA with quick fifty

Graeme Smith had a smile on his face when the toss went his way, but it was soon replaced by a frown after a rampant Tillakaratne Dilshan and a fluent Kumar Sangakkara forged a century partnership. Sri Lanka were always in control with Dilshan around, and the manner in which he helped himself to 81 by the half-way mark suggested Smith's decision to field was a gross blunder. South Africa had taken the early initiative by dismissing Sanath Jayasuriya cheaply, but along came Sangakkara for a useful return to form.
The ball didn't come onto the bat easily at the start, but there was enough time for Dilshan to get back and hit it. He negated the initial uneven bounce and played anchor and aggressor in equal measure. He attempted to dominate and took control after Steyn had Jayasuriya lbw with one that pitched on middle and didn't swing. The first to feel Dilshan's force was Wayne Parnell, whose first spell suggested he was a tad awed at opening the attack with Steyn in the tournament opener.

ICC Awards 2009 The nominations

Cricketer of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Tillakaratne Dilshan, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Shakib Al Hasan, Mitchell Johnson, Graham Onions, Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Harbhajan Singh, Graeme Smith, Andrew Strauss, Daniel Vettori, AB de Villiers

Test Player of the Year
Stuart Broad, Michael Clarke, MS Dhoni, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Gautam Gambhir, Shakib Al Hasan, Mitchell Johnson, VVS Laxman, Jesse Ryder, Thilan Samaraweera, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Peter Siddle, Harbhajan Singh, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, Daniel Vettori, AB de Villiers

ODI Player of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, MS Dhoni, Andrew Flintoff, Chris Gayle, Umar Gul, Martin Guptill, Michael Hussey, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Thilan Thushara

Emerging Player of the Year
Martin Guptill, Ben Hilfenhaus, Philip Hughes, Amit Mishra, Graham Onions, Kemar Roach, Jesse Ryder, Peter Siddle

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year
Rizwan Cheema (Canada), Khurram Chohan (Canada), Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands), Trent Johnston (Ireland), Alex Cusack (Ireland), Neil McCallum (Scotland), Kevin O'Brien (Ireland), Niall O'Brien (Ireland), William Porterfield (Ireland), Boyd Rankin (Ireland), Edgar Schiferli (Netherlands), Steve Tikolo (Kenya), Regan West (Ireland), Bas Zuiderent (Netherlands)

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Dwayne Bravo, Alex Cusack, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Umar Gul, David Hussey, Sanath Jayasuriya, Zaheer Khan, Ajantha Mendis, Wayne Parnell, Abdur Razzak, David Warner

Women's Cricketer of the Year
Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Holly Colvin (England), Charlotte Edwards (England), Laura Marsh (England), Sana Mir (Pakistan), Shelley Nitschke (Australia), Mithali Raj (India), Karen Rolton (Australia), Priyanka Roy (India), Lisa Sthalekar (Australia), Claire Taylor (England), Sarah Taylor (England), Stefanie Taylor (West Indies), Haidee Tiffin (New Zealand), Aimee Watkins (New Zealand)

Umpire of the Year
Billy Bowden (New Zealand), Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Steve Davis (Australia), Ian Gould (England), Tony Hill (New Zealand), Daryl Harper (Australia), Asad Rauf (Pakistan), Simon Taufel (Australia)