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Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp shone in the Proteas women's convincing seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Kimberley on Saturday to take a 1-nil lead in the ODI series.
Wolvaardt scored an unbeaten 101, her fifth career century, off 141 balls, while Kapp contributed 84 off 80 balls as they chased down Sri Lanka's total of 229 all out.
The Proteas won the toss and elected to bowl, making a strong start with the ball in hand as Ayabonga Khaka (3/28) secured an early breakthrough to pick up the wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne (7) after Masabata Klaas took a composed catch at deep fine leg.
With the Proteas bowlers hitting their marks early on, Sri Lanka was restricted to 27/1 in the powerplay before captain Athapaththu found her rhythm with the bat to help push the visitors to 62/1 after 15 overs.
Athapaththu went on to score her 16th half-century in her 100th ODI appearance for her country before her wicket fell for 51.
The Proteas, in reply, made a bit of a stuttering start as Sri Lanka removed two of the three top-order batters, including the returning Lara Goodall (7) and Tucker (2), in the powerplay to leave the home side 43/2 after 10 overs.
In a crucial 59-run, third-wicket stand for South Africa, the pair of Wolvaardt and Suné Luus (21) helped build the innings to take the home side near the 100-run mark before Luus was clean bowled by Inoka Ranaweera (1/45) to see the Proteas reach 86/3 after 20 overs, still needing 144 runs to win.
With Marizanne Kapp joining the in-form Wolvaardt at the crease, the duo combined in devastating fashion, and despite a brief stoppage due to lightning, the experienced pair continued to dominate at the crease.
The third and final ODI will get underway on Wednesday, 17 April at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom from 14h00.
