Sri Lanka vs. South Africa, 3rd ODI: Video Highlights, Scorecard and Report

South Africa brought an end to Sri Lanka's rich vein of 2014 form on Saturday, putting the finishing touches on a 2-1 series win, their first-ever such triumph in Sri Lankan territory.

Strong performances from AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla proved decisive as the South Africans scored 339-5, winning by 82 runs after then managing to stop their hosts at 257.

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Batsman	Catcher (Bowler if applicable)	Bowler	Runs	Minutes	Balls	4s	6s
Amla	c Senanayake	b Herath	48	82	61	4	0
de Kock	c A Mendis	b Senanayake	128	161	127	12	3
Kallis	lbw	b Herath	4	15	10	0	0
AB de Villiers	c Priyanjan	b A Mendis	108	100	71	11	4
Duminy	c and b A Mendis		29	41	24	2	1
Miller	not out		4	7	4	0	0
McLaren	not out		2	5	3	0	0
Extras	0nb 9w 4b 3lb		16
Total	for 5 (50.0 ovs)		339
Malinga	10.0	0	85	0
Senanayake	10.0	0	66	1
Mathews	6.0	0	43	0
A Mendis	7.0	0	48	2
Herath	10.0	0	48	2
Dilshan	7.0	0	42	0

Agence France-Presse confirmed the result, while ESPN CricInfo made sure to praise the display of De Villiers, who finished the third one-day international with a terrific 108:

That wasn't to be the highest score of the day, however, as Quinton de Kock opened as partner to Amla and notched 128. Cricket writer Mazher Arshad illustrated just how steadily the youngster's progress is building:

ESPN CricInfo also illustrate just how proud De Villiers and his men should be of their achievement after managing a second tour victory in Sri Lanka, especially considering the form their foes have enjoyed of late:

The captain was quoted by ESPN CricInfo as saying of the victory:

"

Very happy with the boys. It's our first series win here, so we'll celebrate tonight. I thought we slipped up a little early but we made it up in the end. Sri Lanka bowled well in that Powerplay, but later on I was seeing the ball really well.

It's not a World Cup, but for us it's a huge step in the right direction. Angelo and his boys have been playing a lot of good cricket. I'm exceptionally proud of the boys, there's no one or two guys that stand out. I'm just proud of the team." If you hadn't guessed it, AB is the man of the match as well. 

"

Saturday's story, however, was in some way a product of Sri Lanka's own design. Missed catches, pedestrian bowling and the absence of a standout leader in the batting order all contributed to their failure in hunting down the Proteas.

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Batsman	Catcher (Bowler if applicable)	Bowler	Runs	Minutes	Balls	4s	6s
K Perera	c AB de Villiers	b Parnell	37	29	25	4	2
Dilshan	run out (AB de Villiers)		30	63	24	5	0
Sangakkara	c de Kock	b McLaren	36	41	23	6	0
M Jayawardene	c Steyn	b Tahir	2	12	8	0	0
Thirimanne		b Duminy	22	43	37	1	0
Mathews	c M Morkel	b McLaren	58	125	81	5	1
Priyanjan	c de Kock	b McLaren	30	71	46	3	0
Senanayake	c Kallis	b M Morkel	13	21	16	2	0
Herath	c de Kock	b M Morkel	1	7	4	0	0
A Mendis	not out		0	4	1	0	0
Malinga	c and b Duminy		0	2	3	0	0
Extras	2nb 20w 2b 4lb		28
Total	all out (44.3 ovs)		257
Steyn	7.0	0	55	0
M Morkel	7.0	0	49	2
Parnell	4.0	0	38	1
McLaren	8.0	0	37	3
Tahir	10.0	0	29	1
Duminy	8.3	0	43	2

Lasith Malinga is undoubtedly a menace when on form, but the veteran failed to take a wicket on Saturday, and Angelo Mathews did his best job to lead the revival, getting his side's highest score with 58.

After the result, captain Mathews spoke of his acceptance at the result, per ESPN CricInfo:

"

We don't deserve to win the way we played today. We were flat on the field, let go of a few catches and didn't play well. It was a depressing performance. Losing to a foreign team is not the end of the world. I'm happy with my own batting, but it doesn't mean anything, since we lost.

"

South Africa now divert their attention to the Test series, beginning against Sri Lanka next Wednesday, where they'll hope to maintain similar momentum against their hosts.