Player of the Match
Player of the Match

6.35pm A big win for South Africa to kick off their campaign. Tomorrow, as we all know, we'll have a slightly lower-profile game between the two sides with the calmest sets of fans in the world. I know you'll join us for that, bright and early. Until then, goodbye!

For those with nowhere better to go... Why not head over to ESPNFC for the Champions League final, with kick-off approaching. UK users will get access to highlights, too.

Upul Tharanga: "At the start we bowled well, even after the Hashim-Faf partnership, we came back well. Keeping them under 300 was a good effort. We couldn't get any wicket in the middle period. We had Lakshan Sandakan - we could include him in the next game. We play against India next, we have to come back strongly, especially the batting - we have to get those big scores. Today I felt we played some loose shots."

AB de Villiers: It wasn't as true a wicket as the England-Bangladesh game. It was possible for them to chase it down, but we needed a few early wickets, which we got. It was important to assess in the first 10-15 overs. They bowled exceptionally well, and credit to our openers for seeing it out. It's scary, the amount of runs Hashim has piled on in his short career, hopefully many more to come." On bringing Tahir on late: "It was a difficult situation, it was just a feeling I got, there was no set plan. A little breeze, I had a little chat with him, and I just had a good feeling, when I brought him on." What's the biggest challenge as a captain: "Getting team selection right, and getting the balance right for every game."

Imran Tahir is the Player of the Match. "Been working really hard. Really enjoying. Hope it carries on through the tournament. I think [AB] knew the situation, I was always ready to bowl. The openers batted really well, but we stuck to our plans and came back strongly. I wasn't expecting any spin, watching the England-Bangladesh game the other day, but it helped my variations a little. Very happy with how it came out today. I've had a tough last one week, thanks for all the people who supported me."

AK Lakshminarasimhan: "Root, Williamson and today Amla, all the master batsman show their class in this champions trophy"

Bastian: "And once again, Hashim Amla isn't man of the match, despite his century."

AnilMartin: "So we've had three results in three games so far in CT... Chased, No Result and Defended."

6.23pm South Africa begin their tournament with a 96-run win. The result, and even the margin, may have been expected, given where the two sides stood before the match, but it wasn't as straightforward as that number might suggest. Sri Lanka bowled pretty well to keep South Africa down to 299, and their openers made a rollicking start and gave them a genuine shot at chasing it down. But the thing that South Africa had, and the thing Sri Lanka did not, was wicket-taking bowlers right through the attack. Imran Tahir has a sensational record against Sri Lanka, and he improved that further with figures of 4 for 27. A middle-order slump followed that opening partnership, and there was little Sri Lanka could do to recover.

41.3
W
Imran Tahir to Pradeep, OUT, and that is that. Tahir finishes with four. A bit of flight, and Pradeep gives it the big yahoo. Connects pretty well, to be fair, but only manages to hit it as far as the man at long-on

N Pradeep c Duminy b Imran Tahir 5 (15m 12b 1x4 0x6) SR: 41.66

41.2
0
Imran Tahir to Pradeep, no run, googly, pitching just short of a length well outside off. Surprised him but he coped well enough to defend into the off side
41.1
0
Imran Tahir to Pradeep, no run, back of a length on off stump, defended into the covers

Here's Tahir. He has two overs remaining. Slip in place.

Tushar: "Winning by a big margin of 100 runs would make this victory more sweet for the Saffas. With all the four teams in this group expected to give each other a tough fight, that second spot for the semifinals could well come down to who has a better run rate. Sri Lanka should try, even if remotely possible, to play out the remaining overs and reduce the victory margin."

END OF OVER:
41 | 9 Runs | SL: 203/9 (97 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 4.95, RRR: 10.77)

  • Kusal Perera44 (66b)
  • Nuwan Pradeep5 (9b)
  • Kagiso Rabada8-1-46-1
  • Chris Morris7-0-32-2
40.6
4
Rabada to Perera, FOUR, full on middle stump, clears his front leg and flat-bats powerfully down the ground, to the left of mid-off, to bring up Sri Lanka's 200
40.5
0
Rabada to Perera, no run, short, rising over off stump. Looks to make room to slap it over point but it bounces too much for that
40.4
1
Rabada to Pradeep, 1 run, full-toss on leg stump, punched away through cover point
40.3
4
Rabada to Pradeep, FOUR, full on middle stump, Pradeep exposes his stumps again and swishes it away, over the top, into the cover boundary
40.2
0
Rabada to Pradeep, no run, another short ball, over leg stump this time as Pradeep steps away and exposes all three. Swats blindly at it, makes no contact

Tahir's haul

8

No. of four-wkt hauls for Tahir in ODIs, the most by any spinner since his debut. No other South Africa bowler has taken more than 5 such hauls in this period.

Parnell's transformation

9

Runs conceded by Parnell off his last 5 overs. In the first 5 overs he had gone for 45 runs.

losing in middle

23

Runs added by SL's No. 3, 4 and 5 combined, after their openers accumulated 98 runs.

Can SL get it?

2012

Last time SA failed to defend a target of 300 or more in ODIs. Since then, they have won all 23 ODIs defending such a target.

Attacking chase

40

No. of balls taken by Sri Lanka to reach fifty. South Africa had taken 83 balls for the same.

Awesome Amla

25

No. of centuries for Amla in ODIs, in 151 inns. He has taken the least inns to score 25 centuries, beating Kohli who took 162 inns.

Slow start

32

Runs scored by South Africa in the first 10 overs of the innings, is their joint second-lowest in ODIs since World Cup 2015.

SA's streak

7

No. of consecutive ODI wins for South Africa against Sri Lanka, before today's game.

Malinga's return

2015

Last time Malinga appeared in ODIs, before today. Among the players participating in Champions Trophy, he has the most wickets in the tournament's history (22).

ICC Champions Trophy (ICC KnockOut)

Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
ENG33061.045
BAN31130
AUS3012-0.992
NZ3021-1.058
Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND32141.37
PAK3214-0.68
SA31220.167
SL3122-0.798