Tillakaratne Dilshan scored his fourth century in eight matches against international opposition, albeit not in an official ODI, as Sri Lanka piled on runs against a South African side that has yet to properly warm-up. With temperatures around 13 degrees, swirling wind and a spot of rain, South Africa were greeted with a literal cold shoulder in their first outing at this World Cup, which they undertook without regular captain AB de Villiers who was rested because of tightness in his right hip.

Sri Lanka have been in New Zealand for more than six weeks and their familiarity with conditions showed. Their innings began watchfully on a surface which offered only a hint for the seamers, which was all Vernon Philander needed to have Lahiru Thirimanne caught behind in the second over of the morning, and then accelerated.

Dilshan was the anchor for the first half. He played watchfully but was not afraid to show off his range when South Africa's bowlers erred. A cracking drive off Dale Steyn in the third over set the tone and then he went aerial as South Africa returned to their default of bowling short, particularly when the change bowlers, Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel, came on at a venue with inviting straight boundaries. Even when Dilshan got it wrong and top-edged, he got away with it.

He raced from 64 off 69 balls to a century 13 deliveries later, largely thanks to the 20 runs he plundered off Farhaan Behardien's second over to show South Africa that taking pace off was not the answer. Imran Tahir and JP Duminy both struggled to contain as well, although Tahir claimed the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara who lazily pulled to mid-on.

Sangakkara left it to Dilshan, who was out the ball after reaching his hundred, and the younger players to get practice. Dimuth Karunaratne took advantage of the opportunity and broke through a lean patch with a composed 46. He handled the spinners and Steyn impressively before being caught off Wayne Parnell.

South Africa's left-armer was their most incisive bowler and came back well in his second spell when he threatened with a fuller length. He had Dinesh Chandimal trapped lbw but could not stop Angelo Mathews from putting his foot on the gas. It took a good catch from Quinton de Kock, diving to his right, to dismiss the Sri Lankan captain, who batted aggressively to score 58 off 49 balls in his first innings for nearly three weeks after injury and illness.

Rain interrupted Sri Lanka's innings but did not dampen their resolve of asserting themselves over an in-form side after losing a series to New Zealand they believed they should have competed better in. Contrastingly, South Africa's disciplines were not as sharp as they would have wanted and the weather may prevent them from improving on that in the chase against a Sri Lanka side including the fit-again Lasith Malinga.
(Cricinfo)