Ton-up Amla inspires Proteas to emphatic win

COLOMBO: Opener Hashim Amla smashed 109 and Ryan McLaren took two wickets in three balls as South Africa thrashed Sri Lanka by 75 runs in their first One-day International here on Sunday. Amla, 31, hit eight fours in his composed 130-ball knock and shared a 151-run stand for the third wicket with skipper A.B. de Villiers (75), helping the visitors to post a formidable 304-5 at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Kumar Sangakkara responded with a fine 88 off just 84 balls but Sri Lanka were still bundled out for 229 off 40.3 overs. The hosts appeared headed towards victory at one point. But paceman McLaren dismissed Lahiru Thiri­manne and Sangakkara in the 38th over to trigger a collapse that saw Sri Lanka lose their last five wickets for just 13 runs. Spinner Imran Tahir emerged as the highest wicket taker for the visitors, finishing with 3-50 from seven overs. Earlier, Sri Lanka’s unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis took 3-61 including the prized scalp of star all-rounder Jacques Kallis for a duck to peg back South Africa. The visitors got off to a steady start, putting on 58 before losing two batsmen in quick succession. Quinton de Kock was bowled by Angelo Mathews for 27 which included a six off Sachit­hra Sena­nayake (1-49). Just two balls later, Mendis trapped Kallis leg before wicket with his trademark carrom ball to reduce the Proteas to a shaky 60-2. But Amla and de Villiers made light of the twin setbacks and steered the innings to a position of strength with their 141-ball stand. Amla, named the new Test skipper last month, was in top form although he was dropped on 49 by substitute Thisara Perera at long-on. At the other end, de Villiers played a sparkling knock, his 75 coming off just 70 balls with the help of five fours and a six. De Villiers, who was also dropped on 17, was out when he chipped a simple catch to Nuwan Kulasekara off Mendis. David Miller (36 not out) and Ryan McLaren (22 not out) then unleashed some hard hitting in the final overs to take the visitors to their highest ODI total in Sri Lanka against the hosts. Amla completed his 13th ODI century before being trapped in front of the middle stump by Mendis. He hit eight fours and a six. It was his second ton in two days after he hit a century in a practice game against a Sri Lankan President’s XI on Friday. The second ODI will be played in Pallekele on Wednesday, followed by the third and final match in Hambantota next Sunday. Scoreboard SOUTH AFRICA: H.M. Amla lbw b Mendis 109 Q. de Kock b Mathews 27 J.H. Kallis lbw b Mendis 0 A.B. de Villiers c Kulasekara b Mendis 75 J. P. Duminy c Dilshan b Senanayake 16 D.A. Miller not out 36 R. McLaren not out 22 EXTRAS (LB-8, W-10, NB-1) 19 TOTAL (for five wkts; 50 overs) 304 FALL OF WKTS: 1-58, 2-60, 3-211, 4-239, 5-249. DID NOT BAT: D.W. Steyn, V.D. Philander, M. Morkel, Imran Tahir. BOWLING: Malinga 7-0-52-0 (w2), Kulasekara 6-0-26-0 (nb1), Senanayake 10-0-49-1 (w2), Mathews 6-1-30-1 (w2), Mendis 10-0-61-3 (w4), Priyanjan 7-0-47-0, Dilshan 4-0-31-0. SRI LANKA: M.D.K.J. Perera c Morkel b Philander 34 T.M. Dilshan c de Kock b Morkel 40 K.C. Sangakkara c sub b McLaren 88 D.P.M.D. Jayawardene c de Kock b Imran 10 A.S.A. Priyanjan c Kallis b Imran 5 A.D. Mathews c de Kock b Morkel 13 H.D.R.L. Thirimanne b McLaren 15 K.M.D.N. Kulasekara b Steyn 1 S.M.S.M. Senanayake b Imran 6 B.A.W. Mendis c McLaren b Steyn 0 S.L. Malinga not out 6 EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4, NB-2) 11 TOTAL (all out, 40.3 overs) 229 FALL OF WKTS: 1-50, 2-98, 3-122, 4-138, 5-164, 6-216, 7-217, 8-223, 9-223. BOWLING: Steyn 7.3-0-38-2 (1w); Philander 8-0-40-1 (2nb, 1w); Morkel 7-0-39-2 (2w); McLaren 6-0-33-2; Imran Tahir 7-0-50-3; Duminy 5-0-24-0. RESULT: South Africa won by 75 runs. UMPIRES: R.E.J. Martinesz (Sri Lanka) and S.J. Davis (Australia). TV UMPIRE: N.J. Llong (England). MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand). MAN-OF-TE-MATCH: Hashim Amla. SECOND MATCH: Pallekelle (D/N), Wednesday. Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2014