Amla, De Kock power Proteas to an imposing target

Powered by contrasting centuries from openers Quinton de Kock (109) and Hashim Amla (154), South Africa propelled themselves to a formidable total of 384/6 in the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka.

A Cape Town-esque effort will be required from Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga after he won the toss and gave the hosts first use of a faultless batting surface.

In the process of making his 12th limited overs hundred, De Kock became the fastest batsmen to reach 3000 ODI runs (74 innings) while also being the youngest batsman to reach a dozen ODI tons.

With the ease in which he batted against a jaded Sri Lankan bowling attack, there was an air of inevitability about his knock.

He glided to his fifty off only 40 balls while needed a further 40 to notch up one of the more easier centuries he'll ever make.

He dominated the opening stand of 187 with his senior partner that came off only 26.3 overs and his 16 boundaries peppered the small ground. Such was the maturity of the innings, not at any stage did he try to hit a six or try to go over the top.

The one time he did, he holed out to Sandun Weerakody at deep cover off Suranga Lakmal, ending his 87-ball 109.

It was left to Amla to steer the ship after compiling his 24th ODI ton off 112 balls. While he matched De Kock shot for shot in his 49-ball half century, Amla was content to chill in De Kock's slipstream while the junior partner relished his role as the calculating belligerent.

Having watched his senior middle-order dashers come and go, he shouldered the finishing responsibilities and clobbered some impressive boundaries.

All five of his sixes came after the hundred and dominated the 62-run fifth wicket stand between him (35) and Farhaan Behardien (26) made in just 29 balls.

Amla's third 50 came off just 20 balls with two fours and five sixes. In his last four ODI's at SuperSport Park, he collected 133, 127 and 124 to add to his second highest score and the highest he's made in the country.

The Highveld ground has been very profitable for him. On Amla's watch, 110 runs were ransacked in the last 10 overs.

Provided with a platform, the in-form Faf du Plessis muscled his way to a 34-ball 41 before picking out Lakmal at mid-off off Lahiru Madushanka (2/70)

ODI captain and fellow hometown hero AB de Villiers received a big applause but he could not back it up with a substantial innings. He went out with a whimper, compiling 11 off 14 before he found Lahiru Kumara at deep cover off leg spinner Jeffery Vander say (1/61).

The same applied to JP Duminy, who offered wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella a simple catch off Lakmal (3/71) after making 10 off a dozen balls.

Behardien's 20-ball 32 went unnoticed but every other contribution was going to be second in the face of Amla's gracious assault.

  - TMG Digital