Man of the Match performance from Imran Tahir and Hashim Amla’s 25th ODI century helped South Africa thrash Sri Lanka by 96 runs in their opening match of ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Chasing 300, despite a good start, Sri Lanka simply couldn’t get going in the middle overs as they started their campaign with their worst defeat in Champions Trophy history.
Extra Cover: SK Play of the Day: AB de Villiers' incredible run-out sends Dinesh Chandimal packing
Man of the Match Imran Tahir
“I am enjoying my cricket, feel honoured to wear this jersey and playing for South Africa. I have been working hard and hope to carry my form deeper into the competition. I think AB knew the situation, I was always ready to bowl. Our guys tried hard upfront, but their openers played really well, credit goes to them. I had some plans and it worked out well, pleased with the way the ball came out of my hand today, I had watched a bit of England-Bangladesh game and thought there wouldn't be any help for me from the pitch.
“But my variations worked well on this track. I don't practice my celebrations and running, but if that's my speed (24 kmph - while celebrating his wicket), then it's really good. Thanks for all the people who supported me, I had a niggle last week and am thankful to the support I got from everyone. We have a good environment in our team, great way to start the tournament.”
AB de Villiers
"Wasn't as true a wicket as the England-Bangladesh game. I was pretty happy about our total. Probably possible to chase it down but we needed a few early wickets, which we got. It's important to assess the first 10-15 overs. Credit to them; their bowlers bowled very well. And credit to the openers for sticking it out there. Faf then came out and played a beautiful knock.
It's scary the amount of runs Amla has piled on in his short career. He's got many years to come, hopefully for us. Such a team man. Contributes a lot in the changing room too. It's a difficult one (on why Tahir came late). You have to read the situation and the conditions out there. I felt it was important for him to start a little late today. There's no set plan. It comes down to good feeling in the gut. Good that he's the top ranked bowler, so I can bowl him anytime.
Extra Cover: Stats: Hashim Amla becomes the quickest to 25 ODI centuries
Lot of focus on the fielding in the last few weeks. And it showed today. What pleased me today is that we competed every single ball - that's what a champion team is all about. We have Pakistan at Edgbaston next. We played them there at the last CT. The wicket's pretty good there, as we saw in the Aus-NZ game. We will see what plans will work against them.
(On the biggest challenge as skipper of a balanced unit) There are a lot of challenges as a captain: firstly I would like to score runs and lead by example. We do have a fantastic balance, so I will say that getting team selection right before every game in this tournament is a challenge."
Upul Tharanga
"I think we bowled well at the start. Bowlers came back strongly after the Hashim-Faf partnership. Under 300 is a good effort. We couldn't get wickets in the middle overs. Maybe Sandakan can be useful in the next game. We bowled well in the first 10-15 overs, but didn't get many wickets. We play against India and we have to come back strongly, especially in the batting to get the big scores. We played some loose shots today."
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Michael Vaughan:
Dale Steyn:
Graeme Smith:
Ian Bishop:
Alex Tudor:
Kumar Sangakkara:
Anjum Chopra:
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