Johannesburg - Although still missing a proven strike bowler to operate with the new ball, South Africa were still far too good for a Sri Lankan side that, while spirited, lacked experience.
The home team were excellent with the bat, brilliant at times in the field, and okay with the ball but they’re aware that consistency and standards across all three of those aspects needs to be improved when they face New Zealand in the next few weeks and then further down the line when they challenge for the Champions Trophy.
The closest Sri Lanka got to winning a game in the series was the 40-run defeat they suffered at Newlands in the fourth match – and even that was largely as a result of numerous errors from South Africa in the field.
“All around it was a good performance although I don’t think we played the ultimate game of cricket in the series, but the confidence we have at the moment, and the brand we are playing, carried us through,” the Proteas captain AB de Villiers said after Friday night’s 88-run victory at Centurion.
“Our bowlers bowled them out in four out of five games ...we had the ability to strike throughout the series. Among the batters – Faf (du Plessis) had an amazing series – Hash (Amla) and Quinny (de Kock) chipped in... all the batters at some stage played a role.”
Du Plessis was the outstanding player across the series, finishing with an aggregate of 410 runs that included two centuries – one of them a career-best 185 in the fourth match in Cape Town.
“This has been my best ‘purple patch'," Du Plessis remarked about a run of form that dates back to last August when he made a century in difficult conditions at SuperSport Park in the second Test against New Zealand.
“For me it’s learning this process as well, to understand what I’m doing really well and after an innings make sure I’m not relying on what I did in the previous innings, but to start over and really know what makes it successful.
“Obviously there are no guarantees, but at the moment, my blueprint for batting seems to be working well and it’s about making sure I’m very smart in the way I prepare and to be ready for international cricket. When you are in a patch like this, it’s incredibly important to make sure you cash in, because the tide will turn again ... I just need to make sure I remain on this wave for as long as possible.”
Amla and De Kock were the only other batsmen to top 200 runs in the series, while Sri Lanka’s explosive young left-hand opener Niroshan Dickwella, with 197 runs, was the best of the touring team’s batsmen.
Among the bowlers Wayne Parnell was the leading wicket taker with 11, while Imran Tahir finished the series with 10. For Parnell, always an infuriating player given his talent, the means to find a level of consistency in his performances is an ongoing search. “We have to decrease the gap between his great performances and his bad ones,” said Proteas coach Russell Domingo.
“But we saw in Cape Town how he makes an impact when it seems nothing is happening, he bowled a spell of four overs there for nine and picked up two wickets.”
De Villiers believes South Africa will relish carrying the tag as the No1 ODI team in the world. “Being No1 there is an expectation from people for you to play a certain level of cricket all the time. What we’ve got going at the moment, I think we’ll thrive under that kind of pressure.
“I rather like to think about how we will play going forward, how we will win championships, World Cups. And the way we’ve been playing, is a great brand of cricket, great culture; that’s what will carry us forward in the next few years,” he said.