Amla century guides South Africa to victory in Colombo

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Hashim Amla’s 13th one-day international century and a clinical performance in the field carried South Africa to a comfortable 75 run victory in the opener of their three-match series against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Amla struck eight fours and a six in his 130-ball knock of 109 to guide South Africa to a total of 304 for five wickets after they won the toss and opted to bat first in Colombo.

The opening batsman and skipper AB de Villiers (75) put on 151 off 140 balls after Sri Lanka had struck twice in four balls to dismiss Quinton de Kock for 27 and Jacques Kallis for a two-ball duck.