Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis’ fifties help South Africa crush Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in 1st ODI
Amla, du Plessis' fifties help SA crush SL by 8 wickets in 1st ODI
Composed fifties from Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis give South Africa an 8-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International (ODI) at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth. With this win, South Africa take 1-0 lead in the five-match series. South Africa started off slowly, but once the openers Amla and Quinton de Kock got their eye in, they started going for their shots. Lakshan Sandakan got the wicket of de Kock for a 40-ball 34. However, the openers had already put on 71 in the opening 13 overs, to set a perfect platform. Du Plessis, then, came out to join Amla, who had already found his feet. Amla gradually moved on to his fifty off just 56 deliveries, and was determined to stay at the crease till the very end. Full Cricket Scorecard: South Africa vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI at Port Elizabeth
All the same, Amla played the ball straight back into the hands of Asela Gunaratne, but not before he had added a valuable contribution of 57. Captain AB de Villiers came out to bat for the first time in an ODI since June 2016. He is in good form, having scored a brilliant fifty in the third T20I. He scored at a brisk pace, and along with Faf du Plessis, he ensured that South Africa did not lose any further wickets. De Villiers eventually finished with an unbeaten 30 off 27. Stand-in captain Upul Tharanga used as many as six bowlers, yet they failed to get more than a couple of wickets. Full Cricket Score, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI at Port Elizabeth
Du Plessis reached his fifty of 67 balls, later on scoring the winning runs. Sri Lanka, in all probability, will look to bounce back in the second ODI. They will need to put on a much better performance if they are to challenge South Africa in this series. Earlier, Imran Tahir and Wayne Parnell shared six wickets between them to ensure that Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 181 in 48.3 overs. Kusal Mendis top-scored for the visitors with 62. He put up 72 for the third wicket with Dinesh Chandimal in close to 21 overs, but the rest of the batting failed to capitalise on it. As a result, Sri Lanka failed to register a challenging total on the board.
There was a strong wind blowing across the ground and South African bowlers made full use of it to dismantle the Sri Lankan batsmen, after electing to bowl first.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 181 in 48.3 overs (Kusal Mendis 62, Shananjaya de Silva 28; Wayne Parnell 3 for 48, Imran Tahir 3 for 26) lost to South Africa 185 for 2 in 34.2 overs (Hashim Amla 57, Faf du Plessis 55*; Lakshan Sandakan 1 for 35, Asela Gunaratne 1 for 19) by 8 wickets