South Africa vs Sri Lanka 2019, 2nd ODI: Quinton de Kock and bowlers help hosts take 2-0 lead

South Africa took a 2-0 lead in the series against Sri Lanka with a crushing 113-run win at Super Sports Park, Centurion on Wednesday. While the hosts were bowled out for a modest total, their bowlers helped them defend it with ease.

Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga won the toss and decided to field first. South Africa's openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock gave the team a flying start with both putting pressure on the visitors' bowlers.

At the end of 10 overs, South Africa had raced away to 75 for 0, with De Kock reaching his half century off just 36 balls. Malinga then got the breakthrough by dismissing Hendricks for 29 after the openers had added 91 runs.

De Kock continued to play the attacking game and was dismissed for a brilliant 94. But South African captain Faf du Plessis showed his class by adding 39 runs for the 4th wicket. Du Plessis reached his fifty off 59 balls.

However, there was a collapse around the corner. From 220 for 4, South Africa lost their last 6 wickets for 31 runs, and were bowled out for 251 in 45.1 overs.

In reply, Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start by losing the wickets of Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando cheaply. Kusal Perera and Oshando Fernando then played with positive intent to put pressure on the South African bowling attack.

At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka were 52 for 2. But Perera was dismissed immediately after the end of the powerplay, for 8 runs.

Kusal Mendis and Fernando steadied the innings with some lovely stroke play, adding 40 runs for the 4th wicket. But then Anrich Nortje ran out Mendis for 24 runs, which changed the course of game.

After the wicket of Mendis, Sri Lanka kept losing regular wickets and were bowled out for 138 in 32.2 overs. Thisara Perera played some aggressive strokes to score 23 runs before being dismissed by Imran Tahir.

Brief scores: South Africa 251 in 45.1 overs (Quinton de Kock 94, Faf du Plessis 57, Thisara Perera 3/26, Lasith Malinga 2/39) beat Sri Lanka 138 in 32.2 overs (Avishka Fernando 31, Thisara Perera 23, Kagiso Rabada 3/43, Anrich Nortje 2/25, Lungi Ngidi 2/14) by 113 runs.