Dominant South Africa sealed the series when they defeated disappointing Sri Lanka by 7 wickets with 108 balls to spare in the third ODI at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The match was held up for an hour when a swarm of bees drove the players from the field but the hosts, South Africa cruised to victory losing just 3 wickets after they bowled the visitors for 163 to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-game series.

In a first of its kind, a professional beekeeper’s services were required on a cricket ground as the bee attack led to a lengthy interruption of 65 minutes. Later on, skipper AB De Villiers smashed his 49th ODI fifty to guide the Proteas’ chase but the initial damage was done by his bowlers as they restricted the hapless Lankan batting unit below 200 yet again during the series.

Niroshan Dickwella constructed an elegant 80-ball 74 with seven boundaries, but the lack of valuable partnerships from the middle order, barring a 60-run stand for the opening wicket, meant that the visitors were bowled out with 10.3 overs still remaining in their innings.

On a wicket that offered plenty of bounce and seam, Sri Lanka were asked to bat but Upul Tharanga and Dickwella caressed through to a strong start. A couple of reprieves through dropped chances helped the openers’ cause as they registered a half-century stand for the first time in this ODI series.

Following the dismissal of Tharanga, who top-edged a short delivery from Rabada to Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo accounted for Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal, both falling to poor choice of shot-selection as the Islanders were reduced to 89 for 3 at the end of the 19th over. The left-handed Dickwella was dropped on 25 but his second 50+ score in ODI cricket was ended when he gloved an attempted pull to wicket-keeper against a short delivery from Pretorius.

Photos: Sri Lanka v South Africa | 3rd ODI

Photos of the Sri Lanka v South Africa | 3rd ODI 2017

De Silva edged to slips off Chris Morris to end his 25-ball stay for 16 runs while Asela Gunaratne guided a Rabada delivery to Pretorius at third-man.  Pretorius who replaced Wayne Parnell in the starting XI dismissed debutant Lahiru Madushanka and Suranga Lakmal in his successive overs to end with 3 for 19 from 7 overs. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir then cleaned up the tail, getting rid of Sachith Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara as Sri Lanka’s useless batting performance came to an end.

Debutant Kumara who impressed during the Tests bowled with good pace as he struck early when Quinton De Kock chopped one onto the stumps. The other debutant Lahiru Madushanka then found the leading edge of Faf Du Plessis as Dhananjaya De Silva juggled twice at cover point to held on to a straight forward catch.

Hashim Amla was dropped on 12 by Chandimal but went onto make a steady 34 before he took the long walk after some excellent out fielding caught him short of his crease. JP Duminy partnered up with skipper De Villiers to add an unbroken 72 runs for the 4th wicket to guide the Proteas home with 18 overs to spare.