Muralitharan came on in the 16th over - and struck in the 18th with a beauty. The ball was flighted on length, just outside off and in the perfect slot to have Smith forward, attempting a drive. The batsman was beaten first in the air, then off the deck; Sangakkara collected and had the bails off before Smith could drag his toe back (59/65; 95/2).

It was not the most authoritative innings Smith has played in recent times, but it was hugely important for the way he kept Vaas at bay, while making hay against the other two quicks. Equally to the point, he had bitten one-fourth out of the target and in doing so, ensured that those who came after could afford to take their time, without needing to take risks against the spinners.

Gibbs and Kallis cashed in on the other advantage of the Smith innings: with the required rate pulled down to 3.34, Jayawardene had very few runs to play with and thus could not be as aggressive as he liked with his field placings.

The two batsmen kept pushing the singles, especially in the V where the fielders were pushed deep to protect the boundaries, and waited patiently for the odd loose delivery to score big off. The Lankans were also handicapped by the fact that Maharoof and Malinga kept going for runs each time they came on; without a second seamer of Vaas's quality, the Lankans were struggling without enough runs to defend.

At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka were bleeding, with the two batsmen administering the death of the thousand cuts. Kallis, who had a couple of unsure moments against Murali, settled down and began playing the off spinner with considerable authority, going either well forward or well back and playing as late as he possibly could. His 50 off 55 balls, coming on the back of his captain's half century, took another big bite out of the target and at the halfway mark, the Proteas are cruising while Sri Lanka waits on a moment of magic from someone, somehow, to get a toe back into this game.

The Proteas need another 76 runs, with eight wickets in hand, at an ask rate of 3.04 - it will take rank bad batting to lose it from here.

South Africa progression: Overs 1-25
5 overs: 25/1 @ 5.00 (Smith 19/22; Kallis 7/10)
10 overs: 46/1 @ 4.6 (Smith 24/32; Kallis 20/24)
15 overs: 87/1 @ 5.80 (Smith 55/53; Kallis 30/33)
20 overs: 105/2 @ 5.25 (Kallis 36/41; Gibbs 6/10)
25 overs: 134/2 @ 5.32 (Kallis 50/55; Gibbs 18/26)

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