Bees threaten South Africa more as Sri Lanka capitulates

A swarm of bees spent more time in the middle than most of Sri Lanka's batsmen as they capitulated at the Wanderers to hand South Africa an ODI series victory.

AB De Villiers on his way to an unbeaten 60 in the ODI win against Sri Lanka.

A swarm of bees spent more time in the middle than most of Sri Lanka's batsmen as they capitulated at the Wanderers to hand South Africa an ODI series victory.

The Proteas had won the five-match series' first two games in straightforward fashion, and it was once again dominant, chasing down 164 with 18 overs and seven wickets to spare.

Niroshan Dickwella played impressively for 74 - his second ODI fifty - but he saw countless partners perish to brainless shots as the tourists were bowled out inside 40 overs.

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The Sri Lanka innings was delayed for over an hour when a swarm of bees coated the field. It only moved on when a local beekeeper arrived to coax them away with honey.

Indeed, the insects' presence was the biggest threat to South Africa's victory and AB de Villiers (60 not out) helped himself to a first ODI fifty in almost a year to cap an impressive outing.

Dickwella and Upul Tharanga had safely negotiated the powerplay, but the first of several rash dismissals came in the 12th over when Thranaga took on a Kagiso Rabada (2-39) bouncer and top-edged to fine leg.

Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal each fell on four, playing poor shots off Andile Phehlukwayo (2-26) and Dhananjaya de Silva (16) was another at fault for his own demise when he threw his hands at a wide Chris Morris (1-38) delivery and edged to slip.

Then the bees took centre stage.

The players initially laid on the floor in an attempt to evade them, but they arrived in numbers, crawling over Quinton de Kock's helmet in a show of sport-stopping defiance.

When the winged invaders were finally rounded up, the Proteas rattled through their hapless opponents, claiming the final six wickets for 48 runs.

The host coasted through the run chase under little pressure.

De Villiers hit just five fours in his half-century but the milestone will do much to boost the confidence of a player that is seemingly uncertain of his long-term prospects in the longest format, but remains one of the best in the white-ball arena with the Champions Trophy coming later this year.