Amla shows all his class

“AMLA doesn’t ever seem to deliver in the big games for South Africa.”

These were the comments that reverberated through the Eden Park Media Centre after Hashim Amla’s dismissal in the 2015 World Cup semi-final.

At first glance it seemed a damning statement considering Amla has nearly always been at the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings. He’s also been the fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and now 7000 ODI runs, and averages 50.6 across 154 ODI’s.

However, the emphasis was on “big” with particular reference to ICC global tournaments. Including the moment when Trent Boult’s full in-swinging delivery took Amla’s inside edge before crashing into the middle stump, Amla’s average nosedives to 38.38 in four ODI jamborees (two Champions Trophies and two World Cups) prior to this latest ICC Champions Trophy adventure.

There have been fleeting memorable moments along the way. The 113 struck in the epic chase against eventual-champions India at Nagpur in the 2011 World Cup being the highlight on a reel that also includes a 159 against Ireland at the 2015 World Cup in Canberra.

But the consistency and “sense of occasion” has been lacking though. That moment the greats of the game seize to leave their indelible mark.

It is arguably why regardless of Amla’s incredible statistics many don’t automatically reserve South Africa’s former Test captain an automatic place at the exclusive dining table alongside the ODI legends.

Such worldly matters hardly raise an eye-brow with Amla, but even he admitted in a recent interview that “I probably haven’t scored as much runs as I would have liked at big tournaments”.

The realisation that opportunities to leave a legacy are diminishing rapidly as time moves on, Amla set off to the IPL to ease the pressures of an indifferent Test season. Two barnstorming centuries later and the shackles were completely off.

With confidence restored the signs were evident in the England series prior to the start of this Champions Trophy that all the mechanics were being put in place.

And on Saturday, on a stage such as grand as The Oval on a glorious sunlit day in South Africa’s Champions Trophy opener, it all came to fruition with Amla’s splendid 103.

Amla’s powers lay not in those silky wrists that allow him to weave the willow like a magic wand. Neither is it the ability to hit the ball on the top of its bounce like only the chosen few can.

Instead it is his astute judgment of conditions that sets Amla apart from the rest. The pitch on Saturday was not the M1.

This strip and a disciplined Sri Lankan attack required the intelligence to know that a flashing blade would lead to an early demise.