South Africa thrash hapless Sri Lanka

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir and former captain Hashim Amla excelled in South Africa's 96-run win against Sri Lanka in their Champions Trophy opener at The Oval on Saturday.

South Africa posted 6-299 thanks to Amla's 103 and Faf du Plessis’s 75 and then restricted Sri Lanka to 203 as Tahir took four wickets.

Sri Lanka got off to a good start reaching 1-87 at the end of the tenth over, but the introduction of Tahir in the 18th turned the game firmly in South Africa’s favour.

The 34-year-old Amla is the fastest batsman to 25 centuries having achieved the milestone in his 151st innings. It was his fifth ODI hundred against Sri Lanka.

Tahir finished with 4-27 and also had a direct-hit run out as the Proteas withstood a fast start to Sri Lanka's run chase to rattle through their opponents' middle order.

Sri Lanka restricted South Africa to a modest 299 for six despite a fluent century by opener Hashim Amla in their Champions Trophy opener against South Africa at the Oval on Thursday.

Amla struck 103, his 25th century and shared a crucial 145 run partnership for the second wicket with Faf du Plessis after slow start to help South Africa’s course for a decent total. South Africa managed just 32 runs off the first ten overs as Sri Lankan seamers bowled tightly under overcast skies before Amla and du Plessis rescued them with a brilliant stand. Du Plessis made a quick-fire 75 off 70 before Chandimal held onto a brilliant catch off Nuwan Pradeep to break the threatening stand.   Amal’s innings which came off 115 balls included five boundaries and two sixes.

At that stage, South Africa were well placed for a score above 300 runs but Sri Lanka’s seam and spin attack restricted them for a par score. Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the bowler claiming two wickets for 51 runs while Suranga Lakmal and Seekkuge Prasanna picked up a wicket each. Strike bowler Lasith Malinga bowled well during his 10 over spell but couldn’t pick up a wicket.

JP Duminy remained unbeaten on 38 including a last ball six off Pradeep to set Sri Lanka a target of 300 to win.

Earlier Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first to take advantage of the overcast conditions. Upul Tharanga leads the side as Angelo Mathews was ruled out due to injury.

25 Over Update 
Opener Hashim Amla steadied South African innings after a slow start to reach a threatening 131 for 1 at the half way mark of the innings in their opening group B match against Sri Lanka at the Oval.

Sri Lankan seamers, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep bowled tightly under overcast conditions to restrict free scoring South Africans for 32 for no loss at the end of the 10th over before Amla and one drop Faf du Plessis took them to a commanding position at the end o the 25th over. Amla was unbeaten on 65 while du Plessis was on 37, sharing 86 runs for the second wicket. Nuwan Pradeep was the only successful bowler as he removed opener Quinton de Kock for 23 edging to wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella

Earlier Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first to take advantage of the overcast conditions. Upul Tharanga leads the side as Angelo Mathews was ruled out due to injury.

Pradeep picked up De Kock, as Seamers keep SA quiet,  End of 15 overs SA 55/1

Lankan Seamers kept South African openers quiet, Amla and De Kock were only able to clear the rope once each, at the end of the first 10 overs South Africa were 32 runs for no loss. 

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (capt), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Chamara Kapugedara, Asela Gunaratne, Sekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lasith Malinga

South Africa: Quinton De Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis , AB de Villiers (capt), David Miller, JP Duminy, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir

Tharanga to lead the team as Mathews fails the fitness test.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to Bowl first

Match Preview 

Upul Tharanga is on stand-by to lead Sri Lanka against South Africa in the first match of ICC Champions Trophy Group B as skipper Angelo Mathews continues to make a slow recovery from injury.

Mathews, who has been out of international cricket since January, underwent a fitness test on Friday afternoon and he will be assessed again before Saturday's clash at the Oval.

Earlier this week, a Sri Lanka Cricket statement said: "Mathews had complained of stiffness and pain, prompting the team management to conduct radiographic investigations, which revealed a strain on the muscle.

"He will engage in supervised recovery over the next few days but will most likely sit out the first group stage match."

Beaten 5-0 by the Proteas earlier in the year, Sri Lanka start the match as underdogs and in need big performances from the likes of pacemen Lasith Malinga and all-rounder Thisara Perera.

South Africa have leg-spinner Imran Tahir and David Miller fit for the contest and captain AB de Villiers believes his side is ready to peak after the 2-1 series defeat to England.

"Sri Lanka always play well in these tournaments," said De Villiers. "We're well aware of that, and they deserve our respect. They have a lot of match-winners on their team.

"So it's so much more important for us to make sure we don't think about what happened in the last series and we focus on tomorrow's game."

Slow left-armer Keshav Maharaj deputised for Tahir during the England series but will be understudy once more against Sri Lanka.

"Imran is fit, and he's our number one spin bowler," said De Villiers. "Keshav understands his role when it comes to that.

"There might be a time in the tournament where we might use a different strategy, if we play against a certain opposition or on a certain field. But for tomorrow, Imran is the number one pick.

"He is fit and ready to go, so you should see his name on the team sheet."

South Africa finished their series against England with a seven-wicket win at Lord's, having ensured every member of their Champions Trophy squad was involved at some stage in the three matches.

"As difficult as it is for me to say, that was definitely a warm-up for us," said De Villiers. "I hate to say that - because I hate losing games of cricket.

"It was a bit of a catch 22 to get that right message across to the boys, (and) it was maybe a bit confusing at times.

"But if you do go into a series thinking that you want to play all 15 players, you're not really focusing on just winning that series - because your mind is a little bit elsewhere. I think that's what happened.

"We actually could have won that series, easily - which is a great boost of confidence for us - keeping in mind that we played 15 players, and it was a bit of a warm-up for the Champions Trophy.