London — SA captain AB de Villiers praised opener Hashim Amla and leg-spinner Imran Tahir in the Proteas’ huge 96-run win over Sri Lanka in their Champions Trophy opener. The Proteas posted 299 at The Oval on Saturday, thanks to former captain Amla, who scored his 25th ODI century. He was the fastest to the milestone having got there in 151 innings. "It was an amazing innings by Hashim. He did really well to assess the conditions and communicated well with us what kind of score was going to be good," De Villiers said. Sri Lanka were cruising at 116/2 when Imran Tahir was introduced to the attack and the momentum swung in SA’s favour immediately. Tahir was man of the match after finishing with 4/27. "It was close to 10 out of 10," said De Villiers. "Not only with the ball in hand but that run out, it always shows me where the player is at when he shows that kind of dedication and commitment in the field. He is a great asset for us. Tahir takes wickets and he is also economical most o...
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