Hashim Amla all praise for bowlers as South Africa aim for 3-0

The pace quartet of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo and Willem Mulder, and spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and JP Duminy have played a major role in providing South Africa their 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

“We have a good bowling attack in terms of pace and guys who can utilise the first 10 overs, especially if the wicket doesn’t turn," said Amla on the eve of the third ODI in Pallekele, to take place on Sunday, 5 August.

"We have Shamsi, who has done wonders, and JP as well as our spinners. Both attacks are good, we have managed to make inroads upfront which has helped us to keep the scores a bit low," he added.

South Africa will not only look to seal the series, they will also want to extend their streak of a record 10 consecutive wins over Sri Lanka.

Amla has an enterprising opening partner in Quinton de Kock. In the second ODI, they stitched a 91-run partnership for the first wicket. In the past, as openers, they have added 10 century stands, and also registered a record unbeaten partnership of 282 against Bangladesh last year.

“Quinny and I have opened together for quite a few years,” said Amla. “We have a good relationship on and off the field. We take things with a smile on our face, we want to enjoy our batting as best as we can.

“When we got to our 50 partnership in the second game, it felt like we hadn’t batted together in a long time, so we really appreciated that. Quinny is chilled, I try to encourage us to play our games and to be as positive as we can with a smile on our faces.”

Amla also backed Aiden Markram, who fell for 0 and 3 in the first two ODIs, saying, "Aiden is a wonderful player. He got two low scores but that could happen to anybody, it has happened to me throughout my career.

"He is a brilliant player, he will come right. I don’t know what the team for tomorrow is like but Aiden is someone who trains exceptionally hard and is determined in his batting, I have no doubt that in time he will come good."