Lance Klusener made his first outing in the Hong Kong Sixes a memorable one, leading his side to an easy three-wicket win over Sri Lanka. The hard-hitting left-hander made 29 while another all-rounder Johannes van der Wath contributed 30, as the Proteas successfully chased a target of 77.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan total of 76-5 was almost entirely built around an unbeaten 48 from No. 4 Thilana Kandamby. The 20-year-old walked out at the end of the first over after Sri Lanka lost two wickets with just seven on the board.

He and Sanjeewa Silva, then, put on 37 runs for the third wicket in seven balls before Silva fell for 17. With the fourth wicket - that of Praneth Jayasundera - falling with four balls remaining, Kandamby was allowed to return to the crease despite having gone past 31. By the time, the Sri Lankan innings had ended, he had smashed as many as four fours and five sixes in his entertaining 12-ball stay. Kandamby's unbeaten 48 was also the third highest knock ever in the Sixes tournament, behind Sanjay Manjrekar's 57* against West Indies in 1996 and Jonty Rhodes 56* against Sri Lanka in 1995.

The South Africans, in reply, lost a wicket off just the second ball of their innings, Lungile Bosman falling for duck. But after the other opener Gerald Dros too was dismissed for 10 runs, Klusener and van der Wath stepped in to guide their team to an easy win.

The win has seen South Africa join Sri Lanka and India at the top of the Pool 1 leaderboard with two points. They shall now take on India in what promises to be a high-voltage clash at 1405 HKT.

© CricInfo