A trio of centuries, including the fastest ever in a World Cup, saw South Africa lay down a commanding marker as they kicked off their World Cup campaign with an authoritative 102-run win over Sri Lanka in Delhi.

Progressively more emphatic centuries from Rassie van der Dussen, Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram would, in the end, prove to be the decisive contributions as a valiant Sri Lankan outfit fell foul of a scary good South African outfit flexing their batting might.

On the whole though it was a day for the bowlers to forget, with the game largely decided as a straight shootout between the batters. And in that sense, while the end result may show a pretty decisive loss for Sri Lanka, this is a game that they will feel they could garner more positives than what might have seemed possible at the halfway mark.

Sure, five of their bowlers went at over eight an over – three at nineth or more – but a side that had major question marks over their ability to score quick runs gave a good account of themselves in what was always going to be an unlikely chase.

Kusal Mendis set the tone in the chase blitzing his way to a 42-ball 76. His fifty came off just 25 deliveries, and before a single other batter had scored a single run – Pathum Nissanka was out castled for a duck, while Kusal Perera remained scoreless as Mendis cut loose.

Mendis would reach his fifty at the team total of 54 – the lowest team total at which any batter completed his fifty in men’s ODIs (where known). He would also plunder eight sixes, as Sri Lanka struck nine in total inside the first 10 overs – the second-most in a men’s ODI innings (where we have ball-by-ball data), one behind the West Indies who hit ten sixes in their first ten overs vs England in 2019.

But once he fell, Sri Lanka’s slim chances became even more faint. Fifties from Charith Asalanka (79 off 65) and Dasun Shanaka (68 off 62) kept the flame of hope briefly alive, but the task by that point was always well out of reach. Some late unexpected hitting from Kasun Rajitha then brought the margin of defeat even closer, which could be key if net run rate comes into play during the latter stages of the tournament.

This though was a day that belonged to the South African batters, namely Markram, whose 54-ball 106 was as an innings of equal parts belligerence and control. How else would you describe an innings that quite preposterously paired a control percentage of 90% at a strike rate of 196.29?

Such was his dominance, that it quite honestly overshadowed the two other tons in the innings. Which is quite the statement considering de Kock’s came off 83 deliveries, and van der Dussen’s off just 103. Not to mention the pair put on 204 for the second wicket, a stand that set the platform for the destruction that followed.

It’s arguable that Sri Lanka’s only moment of relief in the innings came as early as the second over, when Dilshan Madushanka trapped Temba Bavuma in front of middle and leg with one that ducked in off a good length.

In that sense the opening 10 overs would have pleased the Lankans, who kept a lid on proceedings in that period giving away just 48 runs. But even as Sri Lanka sought to keep their lines and lengths tight, the pair of de Kock and van der Dussen accumulated.

During their 174-ball stand, boundaries were never too difficult to find with loose deliveries dealt with efficiently and even the good balls more often than not turned away for singles. It was a partnership that burgeoned with minimal risk taking.

In terms of breakthrough opportunities, all that came Sri Lanka’s way were half chances at best – a missed sharp chance at backward point, a hair’s breadth margin on direct hit, and a mistimed chip falling just short of the fielder, were pretty much the extent of it.

As for South Africa, to say they progressed smoothly through the gears would only suffice if the gears available were four, five and Super Saiyan.
After that relatively subdued opening 10, overs 11-20 would see them tick away at seven an over; overs 21-30 would see a further 88 runs scored; 85 would follow in the next tranche of 10; and then would come the final blow, as a further 137 runs were pillaged in the final 10, to put the most emphatic of exclamation points on an exquisitely paced innings.