South Africa made no heavy weather of chasing their modest target of 121 as they surged to an astounding 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo today to clinch a dominant 3-0 series whitewash.

Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock opened proceedings and stood strong as the pair batted with aplomb after the confidence from within the Proteas camp was flaring, thanks largely to their superb bowling performance.

The two were both on 27 after seven overs, following the end of the power play phase of the game in the opening five overs, and Hendricks started particularly well, scoring at a strike rate of 142.10, compared to De Kock’s 116.66.

The Sri Lankan bowlers looked to be rattled and their defence of their mild total looked doomy almost immediately from the outset, which was evident in their inability to bowl consistently, unorthodox wide deliveries and desperate attempts to review.
At the halfway mark the partnership had reached a solid 81, with De Kock contributing 37 of the runs and Hendricks 38.

Their comparable strike rates had narrowed, with the former having been on 124.13 while the latter was slightly higher on 126.66.
The pair looked completely unbothered in the ensuing overs and, after already chasing a low total, they looked unbreakable.

De Kock reached his half-century off 40 balls and achieved the milestone in the 13th over. He batted with much finesse, striking the ball in all areas of the park and in the next over he continued with that same level of vigour.

It was then up to Hendricks to achieve that same feat before they reached their target, and he did just that halfway through the 14th over, getting his 50 off 38 balls, including five 4s and one 6.

The pair jetted to their target in the 15th over, with De Kock finishing on 59* and Hendricks 56*. The result means SA have won their seventh straight T20I, which bodes well for their chances ahead of the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman next month.

After a disappointing ODI series loss against SL, the clean sweep comes as a major boost for the side, who aren’t set to play any more T20I games before the commencement of their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 23.