4-2 - WICKET! Magnificent start for Lonwabo Tsotsobe as he gets Dilshan out with his second ball of the evening. The Sri Lankan skipper tried to cut, but the ball was too close and he gloved it to his opposite number AB de Villiers who did brilliantly to take the diving catch.
4-1 - Morne Morkel strikes in his first over as Tharanga cuts straight to JP Duminy who takes a low, diving catch in the gully. Brilliant start for South Africa. Kumar Sangakkara drives through the line and gets off the mark with a superb boundary. He tries it again, but this time it's a swing and a miss.
Morne Morkel has ball in hand and Upul Tharanga is ready to face up for the first ball. 302 to win, here we go.
Sri Lanka need 302 to win this opening ODI in Paarl. It won't be easy at just over six per over. They will need someone to play an anchoring role like Hashim Amla did with his 112, while Jacques Kallis (72) and AB de Villiers (52) also chipped in. As far as the bowling went, most of the Sri Lankans came in for a bit of stick, but Lasith Malinga showed his class with a haul of five for 53 in his ten overs.
301-8 - WICKET! Du Plessis drags one back onto his stumps as he tries to steer it to third man. It was short and wide outside off and really didn't deserve a wicket. 300 comes up as Robin Peterson tries a sweep but misses as it hits his pads. They scamper through for the leg bye. WICKET! That's a five-for for Malinga who bowls Steyn with a perfect yorker which crashes into the off stump. Morne Morkel comes in to face the final ball and gets a single, taking the score to 301 for eight.
296-6 - Du Plessis goes inside out and sends it toward the cover boundary, but the sweeper does well to cut it off and restrict them to just the two. There's still a chance South Africa might not even reach 300 here if Malinga can put in a special final over.
290-6 - Malinga gets his yorker horribly wrong and bowls a wide down leg side giving Sangakkara no chance as it goes to the boundary. APPEAL! There's a shout for caught behind, but Peterson looks rather bemused as he just played really late at that one. He definitely beaten for pace and the umpire correctly says not out.
283-6 - WICKET! Possibly the softest dismissal JP Duminy will ever have in his career. The ball does nothing special and Duminy just pushes it slowly back to Mendis who takes the simplest of catches. South Africa just looking for 300 now as Robin Peterson comes to the crease.
280-5 - Malinga looks for the slower ball, but Morkel picks it and it goes over the boundary for a massive six. WICKET! He tries it again, but the length is fuller and Morkel only manages to hole out to Angelo Mathews at mid-on. WICKET! It's two wickets in two balls for Malinga as he gets the edge from Amla and Sangakkara takes a great catch diving to his right. Superb innings by the vice-captain, but it leaves South Africa with two players at the crease yet to get off the mark. Suddenly 320 looks a tough target. APPEAL! Faf Du Plessis tries to get off the mark by pushing to mid-off and going for a quick single. There's a direct hit, but he's comfortably in.
273-3 - Good over from Kulasekara who manages to keep the batsmen relatively quiet in the context of the game. Amla still doing a superb job here to anchor this South African innings and they could get up to about 320 here if they continue with Morkel at the crease.
267-3 - Fine leg is up in the circle and Amla tries to work one through that area, but he picks out the fielder. Morkel tries the same thing, but he too hits it straight to Kulasekara who does the fielding. Fernando then looks for the bouncer, but Morkel is quickly onto it and hooks it over square leg and into the crowd.
258-3 - Morkel gets his innings kick-started with a crushing on drive which goes for four. He then goes for it on the off side, but there's a man on boundary riding duty and he keeps it to a single.
249-3 - DROPPED! Relatively easy chance goes down as Morkel pushes a full toss back to Malinga, but he puts it down much to the frustration of the Sri Lankans. That might just be the chance Morkel needs to reignite his international career.
245-3 - 100! Amla works it down to fine leg and comes back for the second to go his ninth ODI century. It's a very well-timed innings by the opener who has put his side on course for a potential score of 320. WICKET! Kulasekara gets his man with a leg-stump yorker. De Villiers tried to give himself room, but the right-hander couldn't do much about it as it was fast and took out the base of leg stump. Albie Morkel comes to the crease. He can hit the ball far and he will need to in these final nine overs.
241-2 - Brilliant partnership so far between de Villiers and Amla who has done brilliantly to put the Kallis dismissal behind him. He gets a single off the last ball to put himself on strike for the next over where he can go to his century.
235-2 - Desperate for a wicket, the skipper brings himself on and Amla pulls him away for a single before de Villiers reverse-sweeps and Dilhara Fernando has to chase that, but pulls it in just before the ropes. FIFTY! De Villiers then goes inside out over cover for four and Dilshan responds with a full toss around the waist and AB dispatches that to the boundary with consummate ease to go to his half-century.
222-2 - Dilhara Fernando comes back to try and stem the run flow, but he fails to do so as de Villiers gives himself a bit of room and launches one through the covers for four before coming down the crease and chipping into mid-wicket for two more.
213-2 - Mendis hasn't been very effective thus far today, the South African's have been able to pick him and he hasn't really had much bounce or movement. 300 is definitely on the cards here as de Villiers pushes into the covers to bring up the 50 partnership off 48 balls. Mendis then gifts him a full toss and de Villiers smashes it right back past him for four more. It gets worse for the bowler who offers a bit of width and it's straight to the cover boundary off the blade of AB.
200-2 - De Villiers goes for a powerful pull, but there's a man back on the square leg boundary. Sri Lanka's mediocre fielding then comes back to haunt them as they concede overthrows and what should have been a single, becomes two. APPEAL! Kulasekara slips well down the leg side and the visitors go up for a catch, but there was definitely no contact and the umpire signals a wide.
190-2 - That's a better over from Mendis as he tries a bit more variety to de Villiers. He beats The Proteas skipper outside the offstump as he offers a bit more flight and de Villiers misses with the drive. Partnership is now up to 37 and it's coming at almost a run a ball.
187-2 - There's a close call for a run out as de Villiers clips the ball off his pads and it drops just next to the stumps. It's a race between Amla and the bowler, but the batsmen makes it into his ground. Again, it's singles, singles and more singles for the batsmen. 21 balls since the last boundary.
182-2 - Another six singles of the over. Mendis failing to offer much variation that would threaten the batsmen in that over and since de Villiers has come to the crease, the run rate has lifted somewhat. The last four overs since Kallis went out have gone at about 6.4 per over.
176-2 - It's Kosala Kulasekera back into the attack now and the batsmen are very easily able to rotate the strike. Six singles off the over without any problems.
170-2 - De Villiers gets on the attack and shows intent by coming down the track and smashing Mathews for consecutive boundaries over the cover area. Brilliant batting from the skipper which means 35 runs scored in the batting power play for the loss of just Jacques Kallis.
158-2 - De Villiers tries to get down the crease and make something happen, but the wicket seems to have put a stranglehold on the runs. Just the four from the over for South Africa.
154-2 - Angelo Mathews comes back now as Dilshan decides it's best to save Malinga for the dying overs. OUT! Poor running from Kallis as he is caught napping at the non-striker's end. Amla played the ball into the covers and Kallis took his time to get to the other side and the direct hit from Mahela Jayawardene saw the big man depart for a well played 72.
151-1 - Amla starts the over with a sensational drive off the back foot, on the up and straight through the covers. Another drives brings up the 150 for South Africa. The Proteas really looking decent at the crease today.
144-1 - Kallis is struck on the pad as Malinga bowls a full toss, but a little inside edge saves the batsman who would have felt he missed out there. Malinga then misses his length by millimetres and Kallis is quickly onto it as he drives through cover for four more. Two in a row makes it a successful first power play over for South Africa.
Kallis and Amla are both so well set, they decide to call the powerplay and that prompts Sri Lanka to continue with Malinga. Mendis was set to bowl, but after seeing the signal from the umpire Dilshan realises the yorkers might be more effective.
135-1 - Kosala Kulasekera comes back into the attack to add to his two overs and Kallis immediately steers him away to backward point for a single. The singles are on offer all over the field now as Kallis and Amla continue to build on this partnership.
129-1 - Malinga is again full and aiming at the batsmen's toes. Kallis drives to mid-on for a single before Malinga overpitches and Amla can work it away, also for a single. Kallis then goes over the top just driving the bat through the line of the ball. He doesn't quite middle it, but it goes over for a boundary nonetheless.
122-1 - Fernando's taking the pace off the ball a lot as he sends down some leg-cutters. It takes Kallis by surprise as it gets a bit more bounce and hits him high on the bat, but he's able to get off strike a ball later. Amla then refused to be tied down and hooks him over mid-wicket for a brilliant four. He's then beaten outside off as he tries to steer it down to fine leg, but it goes straight to the keeper.
117-1 - APPEAL! The Sri Lankans get very excited as Malinga strikes Kallis on the pad. It looks like it's sliding down leg as umpire Marais Erasmus says not out, but they decide to go for the appeal. It's missing the stumps by a long way and the umpire's decision is vindicated. Bit of a waste of an appeal by the visitors who no longer have the luxury of questioning the umpire in this innings. Only one review per innings allowed in the ODI format. Malinga's looking for the reverse swing yorkers now and he's bang in the block hole. FIFTY! Amla gets an inside edge down to fine leg, not the most convincing shot, but it brings him the two needed to go to his 16th half-ton
114-1 - After the hesitance in the previous over the calling is a lot more forceful, particularly from Amla who will be wanting to preserve that 50-plus average he currently holds in the shorter format of the game. After four dot balls from Fernando, Amla decides he's had enough and goes over the top of cover and crashes it to the boundary. He then rocks back on the pull, but fails to replicate the timing as it goes straight to mid-wicket. 280 would be a decent score for the South Africans to set and with their bowling attack, you'd expect them to be able to defend that.
110-1 - Kallis pushes down the grown to bring up the 100-run partnership. It's been a fantastic rebuilding partnership by the two who have scored at five and a half per over. If they keep the wickets in hand until the end of the innings, they're in for a big score.
106-1 - Almost a run out as Kallis and Amla hesitate while going for a single. Lucky, the Sri Lankan throw misses at the bowler's end or else Amla would have been on his way. FIFTY! Kallis then works one away for his 85th ODI half-century. What a supreme record for the man who is coming off his double-century in the third Test at Newlands.
102-1 - Amla gets stuck Mendis now as he drives beautifully off the back foot before going over the top, despite several men standing in the off side. Brilliant stuff by the vice-captain who goes into the forties now.
91-1 - Somewhat tighter, better, from Fernando, who would have cherished a good pep talk from his captain during the drinks break. He has two shoddy overs to make up for, and is at least one third of the way to improvement now.
84-1 - Straight back to business after a brief break, Amla welcomes the new bowler into the attack with a wonderful loft in an inside-out fashion, with four the ultimate result. Mendis won't mind that too much. When the batsman is attack via the aerial route, the bowler is always in with a chance.
76-1 - Right on cue, Sri Lanka opt for their bowling Powerplay. Fernando, meanwhile, is back into the attack in a bid to make up for a truly poor opening spell, which lasted just one expensive over. More shoddy stuff from the fast bowler, though, with Kallis driving a half-volley for four and then picking off some leg-side fodder for a couple. Fernando does bite back, to an extent, with a bit of sharp bounce outside the off-stump, but really this is lining up to be a very trying day at the office for the bulky seamer. Drinks break, meanwhile.
69-1 - Sri Lanka use their sixth bowler a mere 16 overs into the innings. It's the part-time spin of their captain, who too is milked for the singles on offer. Wise cricket from Kallis and Amla, who know full well that there is no need to take any chances here. It's all about setting up a solid foundation for the middle-order, or perhaps themselves, to later cash in on.
65-1 - Tidy and tight from Kosala, who had a lot riding on his bowling after Fernando's expense. As is panning out, across slowish conditions, the seamer will probably get more overs than the senior fast bowler today. Kallis still trying to manipulate the angle of the ball by darting across his stumps.
61-1 - Playing second fiddle to Kallis and a touch frustrated by a lack of boundaries, Amla looks to go large down the ground but plays down the wrong line, duly missing the shot and looking riddled with indiscipline for it. He does eventually squeeze a single to thirdman, though, bringing up the 50-run partnership from 60 balls.
57-1 - Just a second ODI for Kosala, who debuted against Pakistan in last year's World Cup. He too is a right-arm seamer, with Sri Lanka easily accused of a one-dimensional attack here. Hardly a wicket-taking threat, his will be merely a holding role for now. Kallis and Amla content to just milk the singles and odd two on offer.
52-1 - Nothing more than military medium flowing from the right hand of Mathews, so Sangakkara can easily stand up to the stumps in order to keep the batsmen rooted to the crease. He does just that, with the desired result arriving as Kallis avoids darting down the pitch with some fancy footwork. 50 up for the Proteas, meanwhile.
49-1 - Kallis is eager to combat this tight line by darting across his stumps in a bid to work the ball through the leg-side. It takes some time, but he eventually gets it right to bang the first six of the day high and hard over long-on. With the pressure of a miserly over rattled, the right-hander is happy to take in the remainder of the over on the defence. So ends the mandatory opening Powerplay.
42-1 - No chance for Fernando to redeem himself after that awful opening over, with Mathews promptly into the attack to clean up the economy rate on his fellow right-arm seamer's behalf.
41-1 - The right-armer finds a bit of nip off the seam to near cut Amla in half, with the right-hander left to endure one that snipes through his defences. That's a great over from Kulasekara, who is rightly Sri Lanka's 'death' bowler. He'll have a four- or five-over spell now, later returning when the slog is on.
40-1 - Ruled out of the final Test by injury, the right-arm fast bowler has recovered in time for the ODI series opener. His return is off to a poor start, though, with the widest of wides screaming past the wicketkeeper for five extras and Amla later cutting some poor width to the off-side for four. In effect, that's nine runs off one delivery. Ouch, Dilhara. Thankfully, he manages to clean up approach - bar a full toss, which is packed away for four more - in closing the over on the relative quiet.
25-1 - Loud and proud at the top of the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen, Amla is determined to show his prowess. He dances down the wicket in a bid to force the pace, but is beaten by the bowler. Then an edge past the slip cordon for one. Not that convincing from Amla for the time being. Kallis, meanwhile, is immaculate in working some leg-side rubbish through midwicket for four.
18-1 - With more than enough time to get a feel for conditions, Kallis merely takes in a string of sighters, eventually getting on top of some bigger bounce to chop it behind point for a couple. This is the veteran right-hander to a tee. He will simply line up his approach steadily, eventually tucking into the attack later.
16-1 - Kallis is happy to let some leg-side fodder travel the distance for a wide, later tucking into some fine timing for three through the covers. That was hardly a drive, merely a push. Top effort from a man in the middle of some superb form against opposition he is entirley familiar with, having scored a Test double-ton against Sri Lanka recently.
12-1 - Awkward and on the up from Smith, who again finds some runs off the edge. Thirdman runs around and puts in a good diving stop to prevent the boundary. WICKET! The next time around, though, he is not as fortunate. A severe lack of footwork sees the left-hander spoon yet another edge behind. This time Sangakkara is at hand for a superb catch, diving to his right. There was an air of inevitability about that dismissal. Smith only found the middle of the bat once during his eight-ball stay at the crease. Kallis in now.
7-0 - Back from injury, the right-arm seamer picks up on role with the new ball that has served his country so well in the past. He finds a tidy rhythm to Amla, but to the left-hander soon coughs one up down the leg-side.
5-0 - The right-handed Amla takes in a couple of sighters outside his off-stump before fishing at one and riding his luck off the edge through the cordon. Left to the strike, Smith squeezes a couple off a thick edge and then tucks a couple through the leg-side. Early signs of swing for the pace ace, who hasn't quite settled into a threatening line yet.
With the anthems, handshakes and other such pleasantries done and dusted, umpires Billy Doctrove and Marias Erasmus, batsmen Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla and the Sri Lanka XI head out to the middle for the start of play.
The weather is an absolute scorcher in Paarl, with temperatures hanging around 35 degrees Celsius. The Boland Park pitch is traditionally a slowish affair. A score of around 280-plus should please the Proteas.
Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Albie Morkel, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, M Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kosala Kulasekara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando.
The hosts have Albie Morkel and Robin Peterson in their team. The seaming all-rounder and his spinning partner will bat at seven and eight respectively. No Johan Botha, no Rory Kleinveldt. Dilshan is pleased to have pace ace Lasith Malinga and steady seamer Nuwan Kulasekara back in his side.
Home skipper AB de Villiers has triumphed in the flip of the coin and South Africa will bat first. Visting captain Tillkaratne Dilshan reckons he would have batted first too.
Hello and welcome to our over-by-over commentary of the first ODI of the five-match series between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Boland Park in Paarl.