Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the 2009 Champions Trophy in style, leading Sri Lanka to a 55-run victory over hosts South Africa on Tuesday.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Graeme Smith was made to regret his decision as his troops failed to deliver on the pre-match hype that had surrounded them.

Sri Lanka's hefty total of 319 for 8 was built on the back of a rollicking knock of 106 from Dilshan.

The opener was in supreme form, spanking the Proteas attack to all ends of SuperSport Park. Dilshan dealt primarily in boundaries, opening his account with three fours, which seemed a wise move when his first single nearly resulted in a run out with the batsman prodding the ball to Johan Botha at mid-on, who swooped in but couldn't find the target.

It was the first of many near misses for the South Africans who looked flat in the field and on many an occasion failed to find the target when a direct hit would have seen the batsmen short of their ground.

South Africa did have a margin of success early on, with Dale Steyn picking up the wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya in the sixth over.

The experienced batsman, who had hammered consecutive fours through midwicket in Wayne Parnell's first over, looked to turn a good length ball into the leg side. His balance wasn't quite right and he was rapped on the pads straight in front leaving the umpire with an easy decision.

Graeme Smith rang the bowling changes as he attempted to combat the hard-hitting of Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, but without much success; Jacques Kallis conceded 11 off his first over while Dilshan greeted Albie Morkel to the attack with a brutal upper-cut.

Dilshan brought up a well-deserved hundred off just 87 balls, an innings that included 16 fours and one six.

Skipper Sangakkara had in the meantime racked up his half-century in 67 balls, but was dismissed soon afterwards nudging an innocuous JP Duminy delivery back to the bowler. The left-hander hurled his bat to the ground in frustration, fully aware that he should not have got out in such fashion.

Steyn returned to the fray and rewarded his captain's faith, picking up the key wicket of Dilshan, although the delivery hardly deserved it.

The fast bowler delivered a horrible ball first up, short and wide, which Dilshan hit straight down the throat of Albie Morkel at third man.

The loss of two quick wickets saw the flow of boundaries momentarily halted but after a brief period of consolidation Mahela Jayawardene picked up from where Dilshan and Sangakkara left off, bringing up his fifty off 53 balls.

Wickets fell regularly as the Sri Lankans looked to up the tempo even further in the later overs. Wayne Parnell in particular enjoyed a reversal in fortunes - having been on the receiving end of much of Dilshan's early fury, the 20-year-old picked up the wickets of Jayawardene and Samaraweera in consecutive deliveries.

A final total of 319 was perhaps less than the visitors had envisaged when Dilshan was at the crease, but in the end was more than enough.

Dale Steyn was the most impressive of the bowlers and together with Roelof van der Merwe the only South African to deliver with any regular accuracy.

In response the South Africans impressed early despite the loss of Hashim Amla in just the third over.

Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis enjoyed a productive partnership of 81, with both batsmen unleashing some super shots. Kallis signalled his intentions early with an exquisite front foot jab through the covers off the bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara, while Smith delivered a brutal pull to register the first six of the innings.

The skipper brought up his fifty in style, coming down the track and clipping the ball through midwicket, but his success was short lived.

The introduction of Ajantha Mendis did the trick for the Sri Lankans with the spinner dismissing Smith with his first delivery, the left-hander pushing forward down the wrong line to have his leg stump uprooted.

The key wicket of Kallis was claimed soon after, with Mendis striking again courtesy off a stunning catch at mid-off by Angelo Mathews.

Already in trouble, the home side's woe was compounded when JP Duminy was bowled first ball, failing to pick a flipper that knocked back leg stump off the inside edge of his bat.

Wickets continued to fall before rain brought a halt to Sri Lanka's victory charge with South Africa on 206 for seven after 37.4 overs, and the Duckworth/Lewis method hammered the final nail in the Proteas' coffin when the weathred failed to improve.

Credit must go to the Sri Lankan bowlers who bowled with discipline despite the early onslaught, the presence of just two extras on the scorecard bearing testament to this.

Mendis was the key man with the ball for the victors, picking up the key tri-factor of Smith, Kallis and Duminy.

In the build up to the game the South Africans brushed off suggestions that they would be under-cooked after a three month break, but Smith and his men where unable to shake off what rust there was, with their well-versed opposition in control of proceedings from the get-go.

Julia Harris at Centurion