Rhodes back with a bang as South Africa win by four wickets

Six weeks off while South Africa played out the Test series against New Zealand have clearly done Jonty Rhodes no harm whatsoever. Rhodes bounced back into the South African one-day team at St George's Park on Friday night to guide his side to a four-wicket victory over Sri Lankan in the first game of Standard Bank series.

Rhodes retired from Test cricket last month, but he's been at the nets and has played for Natal during his R and R and he was in good enough touch to make an unbeaten 61. More important, the experience picked up in more than 180 ODIs enabled him to steady a shaky innings and, in harness with Lance Klusener, see South Africa home with more than two overs to spare.

Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya said afterwards that he thought his team and bowled and fielded exceptionally well, but simply hadn't scored enough runs. He said that another 30 or 40 on top of the 221 made by Sri Lanka would have made it a very interesting match.

And that pretty much summer it up. Although there were valiant efforts from Romesh Kaluwitharana, who made 55 at the top of the order, and Kumar Sangakkara, whose 84 gave the Sri Lankans something to defend, the truth was that the tourists lost wickets too frequently and too regularly to build a winning target.

Indeed, apart from the two wicketkeepers, none of the Sri Lankans made more than 18 and only three got into double figures. Even Jayasuriya was able to appreciate the irony that Sri Lanka's traditional strength had failed them.

The South Africans bowled well enough without being outstanding. Allan Donald is still being given time to recover from a stomach muscle strain and he sat this one out, allowing Makhaya Ntini a run. It was one, perhaps, he could have done without as he struggled to adjust to bowling a one-day line and length after his exploits in the Test series.

But South Africa have bowlers to spare in this side, and with Pollock wrapping up the tail to finish with four for 36, the home team had given themselves a target they could see.

But while they might have had it in sight, getting there was a little more problematical. If there was an outstanding feature of this game apart from the Rhodes-Klusener partnership it was the Sri Lankan fielding. Kaluwitharana produced two outstanding catches to remove Andrew Hall and Boeta Dippenaar and a smart stumping to get rid of Gary Kirsten for 58 while Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold contrived direct hits to run out Nicky Boje and Mark Boucher.

Afterwards Shaun Pollock described the run outs as "criminal" and it is true that in both instances the South African batsmen played roles in their own demise. But that is not to take away from two excellent pieces of fielding.

At 143 for six, South Africa were in trouble before Rhodes and Klusener started by pushing ones and twos before gradually increasing the tempo. Only in the last 10 overs did the boundaries start to come again. Klusener used his power and Rhodes, as ever, improvised. His most memorable stroke, perhaps the shot of the match, was a reverse sweep off Muttiah Muralitharan that dropped only two metres short of the boundary rope.

He said later that the reverse sweep is "just a last resort", but if he can hit it that well who's to complain.

Together they put on 80, emphasising the depth of the South African batting and left Sri Lanka needing to win the second of the six-match series in East London on Sunday if they are not to fall too far behind.