CENTURION – Signed, sealed and clean-sweep delivered, the Proteas will board the plane to Auckland on Saturday evening as the No 1-ranked team in the One-Day International format.
They beat Sri Lanka by 88 runs on Friday night after posting a mammoth 384/6 in their 50 overs, to which Sri Lanka replied with 296/8.
It’s been hard work achieving that goal, and it will require even harder graft to keep it especially as in New Zealand, they will face a team significantly more well equipped and confident than the one they have trounced on home soil in the last couple of weeks.
The Sri Lankans have not been up to speed for most of this trip; unable to come to terms with conditions in the Tests, they have been in South Africa’s shadow throughout the ODI series. with the exception of Upul Tharanga’s brilliant hundred at Newlands and Niroshan Dickwella’s effervescence since he joined for the T20s.
Friday night’s win was another comfortable one, coming on the back of two wonderful centuries from openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla. Those two continued to assert their side’s superiority over the islanders on a pitch that initially looked good for batting, but which appeared to get gradually slower through the afternoon.
Sri Lankan captain Tharanga backed this venue’s reputation as a good one on which to chase, choosing to field after winning the toss. Also in his mind would have been his side’s gutsy effort in the previous match at Newlands on Tuesday, when he scored 119 to push Sri Lanka within 40 runs of the Proteas’ total of 367.
While De Kock and Amla were together on Friday, it always looked as if South Africa would surpass that mammoth score as they took advantage of the hard new ball coming on to the bat and the width on offer from the Sri Lankan bowlers, which made scoring easy.
Theirs was a 187-run first-wicket partnership, which came at a rate comfortably above seven to the over, with De Kock making up for a period of lethargy from his older teammate. He scored fluently, particularly through the leg-side where some stunning flicks off the hips were completed with a lavish flourish of his blade.
De Kock’s 12th ODI century – his fourth at his new home ground – took just 80 balls and he was eventually dismissed for 109, having struck 16 fours.
Faf du Plessis (41) and Farhaan Behardien (32) both assisted Amla as the Proteas surged past 300. The prodigious opener had become somewhat bogged down as he made his way towards the three-figure landmark, battling to come to terms with the Sri Lankan bowlers mixing up their pace and length.
Nevertheless he registered a 24th ODI century, which sees him tied with AB de Villiers for the most by a South African in the format, and along with his 26 Test hundreds, meant he also notched up the 50th hundred of his international career.
Amla suddenly opened his shoulders thereafter and played some gloriously aggressive shots, which included a pair of sixes that were deposited into the grandstand in the 47th over off Lahiru Madushanka, two of the biggest blows of his international career.
Amla went from 100 to 150 off just 20 balls, hitting two fours and five sixes in that period. He was eventually caught on the deep cover boundary for 154 (134 balls, 15x4, 5x6) the second highest score of his career.
After a slow start, Asela Gunaratne accelerated towards a maiden ODI century with some audacious shot-making, scoring 109 off 115 balls – having taken 81 deliveries to get to 50. He hit 13 fours and two sixes.
There was a thrilling innings of 39 earlier by Dickwella, which included some extraordinary shots against a fired-up Rabada – scoops, straight drives and flashing square cuts – and a fighting half-century from Sachith Pathirana (56).
There is plenty for Sri Lanka to ponder, but also hopefully plenty that their young players would have learned from what has been a chastening tour.
Chris Morris did a sterling job with the ball, claiming career-best figures of 4/31, while Wayne Parnell picked up 2/51 in seven overs.
For South Africa, greater challenges await, but they will tackle those with confidence and no small degree of panache.