South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock hit 87 to help the Proteas clinch a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second ODI in Dambulla on Wednesday.

The visitors, chasing 245 for victory, were helped by a 91-run opening partnership between de Kock and Hashim Amla, who hit 43. They reached the target with more than seven overs to spare and thus took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Captain Faf du Plessis made a valuable 49 after Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya (3-60) raised the hosts’ hopes.

Earlier, Proteas pacers Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo picked up three wickets each to restrict Sri Lanka to 244-8 in 50 overs.

Skipper Angelo Mathews made 79 off 111 balls while Niroshan Dickwella made 69 to give the Sri Lankan total respectability after they elected to bat first.

“Excellent bowling performance, seemed like Sri Lanka would get 280-300 but we kept getting wickets,” Du Plessis said after the win.

“We kept pulling it back even with them having a set batsman. Plans were good and the execution was great,” he added.

“We give away too many wickets upfront and were always playing catch up since then. Never got going at all with the bat,” said skipper Mathews.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t hold onto the catches as well because you need to take those when you are defending such a score. The bowlers did fairly well but we didn’t field properly. Need to put it aside and move forward … There are some positives and we can still stay alive in the series if we win the next game.”