SL VS RSA - 1st ODI, South Africa tour of Sri Lanka, 2018

Done and dusted in the Tests but have risen like a phoenix in the One-dayers. South Africa have opened their account on the tour. And they combined dosages of pace and spin to do it. And not to forget some counter-attacking batsmanship that helped them track the total down with elan. In the fun company of Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Sagar Chawla and Rishi Roy, this is Kumar Abhisekh Das waving you tada!

Faf du Plessis: Feels much better. The first 15 overs, there is an opportunity to get wickets with the seamers. My observation was that it stays the same throughout the day and there is a possibility to pick wickets with the new ball. The breeze was a big challenge. But luckily, we have had past experiences of playing when the wind was pumping. We remembered a few things from those days. In the Test series, we did not play well, but there's a new group of players here. The conditions will be a little closer in ODIs. All the batters tried to take risks against the spinners and tried to put pressure on them. Even some like JP coming in and taking risks to finish it off was great for us.

Angelo Mathews: Not the best day for us. We have four more games to bounce back. The way KJ Perera and Thisara batted gave us a lot of confidence. 250 plus would have been a good score. The South Africans bowled and batted well, credit to them. They have always got a good bowling line-up wherever they have played. We need to bat well especially with the new ball. Getting bowled out inside 34 overs was pretty disappointing. Had we batted those 16 overs, we would have got to 230-240. We will take the positives and move forward.

Tabraiz Shamsi, Man of the Match: Our fast bowlers were exceptional up front. They did a lot of damage at the top and that made it easier for the rest of the bowlers. The wind was a major factor. You have to see which angles and which lines to bowl. It was a part of the challenge as it is part and parcel of the game. This one did not spin much but youhave to give it your best shot no matter what kind of wicket is given to you. We have a lovely backroom staff as well who helped us.

Duminy: We have had some conversations over the last week, talking about being positive and follow a game plan, it all came well today. Today's mindset was to take them on from first ball, there were some demons around. We have learnt from the Tests, all our plans worked today which was nice to see. There was something in the wicket for the first 10-15 overs and KG was brilliant. We bowled the South African lengths, there was something in it for the seamers, it slowed up as the game progressed and there was a bit in it for the spinners as well. We had a poor Test series, so it was important to put up our best foot forward in the one-day series and we have done just that.

But after the lunch break, QDK and Faf took charge to keep the Lankan spinners at bay with positive batsmanship. Both got out before they got to fifties but Duminy 'swept' his way to a fifty. He applied a very simple formula - sweep anything slightly outside off and that worked wonders for the southpaw. South Africa have gone 1-0 up in the five match series and would wait to see what skipper Mathews has to say on it. Hang on!

At 36 for 5, it looked like Sri Lanka will be blown away. But then KJ Perera and Thisara Perera decided to fight fire with fire. They counter-attacked and were involved in a quickfire partnership for the 6th wicket, which served as the base for their meek total of 193. South Africa were torn apart by spin in the whites and it looked like another episode will unfold after Amla and Markram got out to successive balls off Dananjaya.

Sandakan to Duminy, FOUR, That is it! South Africa win this by 5 wickets with plenty of overs to spare. The run chase had Duminy as one of the protagonists. 26th fifty for the South African and he will take a lot of heart from this and so will South Africa.

Sandakan to Willem Mulder, 1 run, inside halves the ball away into the on-side. Two more now

Sandakan to Willem Mulder, no run, looks to cut and misses as the ball skidded on outside off

Sandakan to Willem Mulder, FOUR, goes for the reverse hack! He waited on it and reversed the ball away well past point for a four. Certainly has buried his performances with the ball in the back of his mind

Sandakan to Willem Mulder, no run, gets hold of the tossed up ball and drives it to the man at cover

Sandakan to Duminy, 1 run, lands it just outside off as it was flighted up and meets a slog sweep which finds the man at deep mid

Only a couple of shots and that will do. Duminy's innings has been so refreshing. Signs of things that South Africa won't be meek push-overs like they were in the whites.

Lakmal to Willem Mulder, no run, fuller length delivery and the batsman presents the full face of the bat to place it to mid-off

Lakmal to Willem Mulder, no run, stays behind the length delivery and pats the ball down into the off-side

Lakmal to Willem Mulder, FOUR, on the pads, bad ball and has been clipped past the man at short mid for a four. Never tried to hit it hard as he just put bat to ball and it raced away

Lakmal to Willem Mulder, no run, back of a length delivery outside off and has been blocked from the crease into the off-side

Lakmal to Willem Mulder, no run, knocked away into the short mid region and Willem Mulder never wanted a single. Duminy has to race back to his crease. 12 more needed

Lakmal to Duminy, 1 run, short ball and has been pulled away with a lot of control. Ensured he wristed the ball down and settled for a single as the man at deep square leg got to it