South Africa hit their straps to crush Sri Lanka in second ODI

With an utterly charming Neil McKenzie century as the cornerstone, South Africa produced their best one-day performance of the summer to crush Sri Lanka by 95 runs in the second game of the Standard Bank Series at Buffalo Park on Sunday.

The home team were superior in every respect as they amassed 302 for seven and then broke through quickly as Sri Lanka replied. In the end the tourists were held to 207 for six and the South African victory gives Shaun Pollock's side a commanding 2-0 lead in the six-match series.

On Friday night in Port Elizabeth the Sri Lankans had been competitive while losing by four wickets, but on Sunday they scarcely challenged the South Africans. As Sanath Jayasuriya noted, they gave themselves a useful start by taking two South African wickets quickly, but then lost the plot, dropping three catches as South Africa piled it on.

The most expensive miss came off McKenzie who had 35 when he swept Muttiah Muralitharan around the corner to Upul Chandana at square leg. It was not a particularly easy chance, going at shin height, but it went in and it went out. McKenzie stormed on to make an unbeaten 120 and make it a matching pair with his maiden Test 120 in Port Elizabeth two weeks ago.

McKenzie and Boeta Dippenaar have been rotated in the South African middle order, but it is difficult to see how or why McKenzie should have to wait his turn when the one-day series resumes in the New Year after the second Test match.

It is an odd itinerary, as Jayasuriya pointed out, but it was arranged by the boards of the two countries to allow the Sri Lankans to trundle off elsewhere at the end of January. The players simply have to deal with it.

And to be fair to the South Africans, they've hopped back and forth between one-day and Test cricket over the past few weeks, not that you'd notice it on the evidence of Sunday's display.

Quite apart from McKenzie there were terrific contributions from Jonty Rhodes, who scuttled to a 50-ball 50 and added 88 for the fourth wicket with McKenzie, and Mark Boucher, who carved out 55 off 48 balls as 100 was added in 14 overs for the fifth wicket.

All of this left Sri Lanka with a bit of a hill to climb, an ascent that grew rapidly steeper as Shaun Pollock nipped out the opening pair. Romesh Kaluwitharana didn't look entirely happy with his LBW decision and Jayasuriya dragged Pollock on for the second game running.

Sri Lanka were two down inside five overs and they never quite got back into the match. Marvan Atapattu made 36 and Mahela Jayawardene hung around for his 59, but the substantial contributions were not forthcoming and by the time the sixth wicket fell at 147 with just on 16 overs remaining, the match had, to all intents and purposes, been won and lost.

Jayasuriya conceded afterwards that if Sri Lanka are to compete in this series, the Sri Lankan top order has to fire. So far it hasn't and all too quickly the South Africans have been able to smother the tourists in the field. The Sri Lankan skipper also felt that the fielding effort had been the worst by his team in, well, a long time.

As for Pollock, he was pleased with his decision to bat first. "I only made up my mind when I went out to toss and the sun came out," he said. "It turned out to be a good decision."

Indeed it did as the bounce evident in the pitch during the morning disappeared after lunch, as Chandana will testify. He was trapped leg before by Lance Klusener by one that struck him about boot height. For the Sri Lankans it was that sort of day.