COLOMBO, July 6 (AFP): 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-dayer today. Amla, 31, hit eight fours in his composed 130-ball knock and shared a 151-run stand for the third wicket with skipper AB 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 was a tad expensive but emerged as the highest wicket taker for the visitors, finishing with 3-50 from seven overs.
SCORECARD
South Africa: Amla lbw b Mendis 109, De Kock b Mathews 27, Kallis lbw b Mendis 0, AB de Villiers c Kulasekara b Mendis 75, Duminy c Dilshan b Senanayake 16, Miller not out 36, McLaren not out 22. Extras: (LB-8, W-10, NB-1) 19. Total: (for five wkts in 50 overs) 304. Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-60, 3-211, 4-239, 5-249. Bowling: Malinga 7-0-52-0, Kulasekara 6-0-26-0, Senanayake 10-0-49-1, Mathews 6-1-30-1, Mendis 10-0-61-3, Priyanjan 7-0-47-0, Dilshan 4-0-31-0.
Sri Lanka: K Perera c Morkel b Philander 34, T Dilshan c de Kock b Morkel 40, K Sangakkara c sub (du Plessis) b McLaren 88, M Jayawardene c de Kock b Tahir 10, A Priyanjan c Kallis b Tahir 5, A Mathews c de Kock b Morkel 13, L Thirimanne b McLaren 15, N Kulasekara b Steyn 1, S Senanayake b Tahir 6, A Mendis c McLaren b Steyn 0, L Malinga not out 6. Extras: (LB-5, W-4, NB-2) 11. Total: (all out in 40.3 overs) 229. Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-98, 3-122, 4-138, 5-164, 6-216, 7-217, 8-223, 9-223, 10-229. Bowling: Steyn 7.3-0-38-2, Philander 8-0-40-1, Morkel 7-0-39-2 , McLaren 6-0-33-2, Tahir 7-0-50-3, Duminy 5-0-24-0.
