Hashim Amla's 13th one-day international century and a clinical performance in the field carried South Africa to a comfortable 75-run victory in the opener of their three-match series against Sri Lanka on Sunday in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Amla struck eight fours and a six in his 130-ball knock of 109 to guide South Africa to a total of 304 for five wickets ­after they won the toss and opted to bat first.

The opening batsman and skipper AB de Villiers (75) put on 151 off 140 balls after Sri Lanka had struck twice in four balls to dismiss Quinton de Kock for 27 and Jacques Kallis for a two-ball duck.

Sri Lanka began their reply well, reaching 122-2 in the 23rd over, but with bad light set to become a factor, they lost wickets cheaply attempting to keep up with the Duckworth-Lewis method run rate and were dismissed for 229 in 40.3 overs.