Captain Faf du Plessis outlined some of South Africa’s plans for the remainder of this month’s series against Sri Lanka, after South Africa won the second ODI by 113 runs at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.

Half-centuries from Du Plessis and opening batsman Quinton de Kock pushed the Proteas to 251 all out, after which fast bowlers Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi shared seven wickets to limit the opposition to 138.

The result afforded the home side a two-nil lead in the series ahead of ODIs three, four and five in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town respectively.

‘For us, the vision is just to look ahead. Wiaan Mulder batting at number five today – no-one would have expected, but that’s what we want to do. It’s good that we’re two-nil up, as it gives us that flexibility and to make out-of-the-box moves,’ said Du Plessis.

‘Someone like JP Duminy has to come back. We have to fix that. If he comes back, it might change one or two other things. Obviously Dale Steyn will be back for the last two games. Hopefully we can get our top six batsmen, an all-rounder and four bowlers firing for the World Cup.’

De Kock was named Man of the Match after striking a brisk 94. His innings spanned a mere 70 deliveries – and featured 17 fours and one six. He later handed the wicketkeeping gloves to teammate David Miller for a brief period.

‘The wicket played really nicely up front. I didn’t mean to go so full-blown up front, but it just happened. It got us off to a nice start. This is the way we want to play our cricket – we don’t play the names. We play the ball on merit. A half-volley is a half-volley, a good ball is a good ball,’ said De Kock.

‘David seemed pretty excited. We are working on him. We’ll make him a better wicketkeeper one day.’

Photo: Gallo