EAST LONDON - Man of the match Neil McKenzie, dropped on 35, went on to hit an unbeaten 120 as South Africa thrashed Sri Lanka by 95 runs in East London on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the six-match limited overs series.

McKenzie provided the platform for Jonty Rhodes and Mark Boucher to hammer quick half-centuries and steer SA to 302 for seven wickets.

Then the SA bowlers, led by skipper Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini with two wickets each, destroyed the Sri Lankan challenge early on and they limped through their 50 overs to 207/6.

Pollock got rid of dangerous openers Romesh Kaluwitharana (2) and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya (7) inside five overs.

Ntini had Marvan Atapattu (36) caught behind.

But when Nicky Boje caught and bowled top-scorer Mahela Jayawardene (59) in the 34th over, the tourists abandoned the chase and turned to survival.

Russel Arnold (39 not out) and Chaminda Vaas (34 not out) put on 60 from 103 balls in an unbroken and tame seventh-wicket stand.

The home team's batsmen, by contrast, were far more aggressive.

Rhodes hit 50 from as many balls in a knock that contained three fours and a six.

And Boucher, dropped on 34 and 46, needed 48 deliveries for his 55 near the end of the innings, smashing five fours and a six.

He and McKenzie - who put on 100 from 87 balls for the fifth wicket - were both dropped off the bowling of demon off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

McKenzie was spilled by Upul Chandana at square leg in the 22nd over.

Boucher was dropped first by Atapattu on the long-on boundary and then by Muralitharan himself off his own bowling before Pramodya Wickramasinghe held on to a skied off-drive.

McKenzie's scoring rate sped up the deeper he went into his knock of just more than three hours, during which he struck 13 fours and a six.

- Nampa-Sapa