Twitter Reactions: Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock guide South Africa to an easy win in the first ODI

Even though they might have dominated in the longest format of the games, fortunes didn’t remain the same for Sri Lanka in the 50-overs format. In the first of the five-match ODI series, South Africa overhauled the Islanders by an 8-wicket margin to take a 1-0 lead. Skipper Faf du Plessis and wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock played brilliant knocks as they made their route to the target look like a cakewalk.

Imran Tahir and Lungi Ngidi were equally good with the ball and it was a comprehensive victory for the home team. The Sri Lankan bowlers had no answers to the assault from du Plessis and de Kock. The right-hander went on to register his 11th ODI century as he marches towards the 5000-run mark in ODI cricket.

Imran Tahir produced an exceptional spell

The Johannesburg track wasn’t as flat as it usually is. Yet, batting wasn’t as difficult as Sri Lanka made it look after being put into bat first. Returning from his knee injury, Lungi Ngidi sent both the openers Niroshan Dickwella and Upul Tharanga back into the pavilion for just 8 and 9 runs respectively. The next four batsmen, though, tried to put up a fightback. But they were largely unsuccessful as Imran Tahir blocked the run flow and accounted for three out of those four wickets.

Kusal Perera first was dismissed for a well-made 33. Oshada Fernando looked promising on his debut with 49 but had to sacrifice his wicket for Kusal Mendis after an ugly mix up while running between the wickets. Mendis threw his wicket away after getting to 60 and similar was the case with Dhananjaya de Silva who got out for 39. With no fightback from the lower-order, the visitors were bundled out for 231 in 47 overs.

Faf leads from the front

The Proteas lost their opener Reeza Hendricks for just 1 run early in the chase. However, after his wicket fell, Faf and QDK put up a terrific partnership. They milked runs at a fair clip and both of them were quite aggressive. However, the wicketkeeper-batsman had to return after scoring 81 runs off 72 balls. His innings looked highly professional and he struck 11 fours in the course of it.

But after he fell, du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen ensured that they didn’t lose any wickets further. They added 82 runs together where the skipper was the aggressor. He went on to register a wonderful ton, his 11th in the format. Dussen remained unbeaten on 32 as South Africa sailed over the finish line.

Twitter praised Faf’s move to promote himself to three instead of the usual number four position. They were spellbound by his brilliance and were all praise for him. There was applause for de Kock, Tahir and Ngidi as well.

Here is how Twitterati reacted to the South African team’s commanding win:

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