Faf du Plessis struck the 11th ODI century of his career, as he led the Proteas to a comfortable eight-wicket victory in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers on Sunday.
Full ScorecardWhile the disappointment of the test series defeat still lingers, the Proteas are on their way to restoring some pride after a superb team performance saw them go 1-0 up in the series.
With this being the final series before their World Cup campaign starts, it was the perfect start to the five-match series, as Sri Lanka go in search of their first-ever ODI series victory in the country.
While a lot of credit must go to Imran Tahir for restricting Sri Lanka to 231, Du Plessis took Man of the Match honours in an innings that was paced to perfection, despite being dropped on 32.
Tahir, who turns 40 later this month, took 3-26, before Du Plessis struck 15 fours and a six, as his century came off just 104 balls.
Du Plessis praised veteran Tahir: "He is probably my biggest weapon as a captain over the years," Du Plessis said of Tahir, who saw his contract for the 2019/2020 season not renewed on Friday.
EARLY STRIKES IMPORTANT
But the captain added that early strikes by Lungi Ngidi, playing in his first international match since suffering a knee injury in November, had also been important.
"Imran bowled brilliantly in the middle overs today but it is really important to get wickets with the new ball," said Du Plessis.
The Sri Lankans, looking for their first bilateral series victory in two and a half years, were asked to bat first, and despite two significant partnerships in the middle order, wickets fell at key times in the match.
Lungi Ngidi, in his return from injury, took two quick wickets to leave Sri Lanka on 23-two.
The first useful partnership was between Kusal Perera and Oshada Fernando, who built up a stand of 76. But just as Perera got going, Tahir picked up his first wicket, as he was caught behind for 33.
COMICAL RUN-OUT
Two overs later, a comical run-out saw Fernando depart for 49.
The next big partnership, a stand of 94, also culminated in two quick wickets. The tourists were in control on 195 for four before Dhananjaya de Silva was stumped for 39.
Two overs later and Kusal Mendis was gone for 60. Tahir was responsible for both scalps as he used his flight to great effect.
That allowed the rest of the bowlers to pick the tail off, as debutant Anrich Nortje picked up his first international wicket to finish with figures of 1-33, before Ngidi had his third to bag figures of 3-60. Sri Lanka bowled out for 231 off 47 overs.
The only real blemish in the Proteas' innings was the early departure of Reeza Hendricks.
The Lions opener fell to Vishwa Fernando for one, but from there Du Plessis and Quinton de Kock didn't let the bowlers rest as they found the boundary with ease.
"Quinny is a big player," said Du Plessis. "He puts bowlers under real pressure."
A SIMPLE CHANCE
Sri Lanka did have a chance to get themselves back into the contest in the eighth over. Du Plessis smacked three boundaries off Thisara Perera, before he edged one to Lakshan Sandakan at short third man, only for the fielder to spill the simple chance.
Du Plessis was on 32 at the time, and from there it was a chance-less effort. Six overs followed without a boundary, but the skipper put that right with 14 runs in the 17th over to bring up his fifty.
Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga was starting to run out of ideas when De Kock brought up his half-century three overs later.
Malinga rued the failure of his batsmen to capitalise on good starts.
"We lost wickets at crucial times," he said, pointing out that on both occasions when a promising partnership was broken the other 'in' batsman had been dismissed almost immediately.
Six boundaries were smacked in eight balls by De Kock, before he was trapped dead in front by Akila Dananjaya for 81 off just 72 balls. The damage, however, was already done.
An effortless 82-run stand then followed between Du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen, with the pair finishing on 112 and 32 not out respectively, finishing off the job with 11.1 overs still remaining.
The Proteas will look to take the momentum through with them to Centurion, when the sides meet in the second ODI on Wednesday.
SOUTH AFRICA: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis (capt), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi
SRI LANKA: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Upul Tharanga, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Malinga (capt), Vishwa Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan