Amla shows that hard work is paying off as he looks to regain batting form ahead of the World Cup

• Hashim Amla scored 65 runs in South Africa’s warm-up victory over Sri Lanka in Cardiff
• Amla has been working with South Africa’s batting coach Dale Benkenstein to help him ahead of the World Cup

Hashim Amla stamped his authority on South Africa’s opening spot with a fluent 65 against Sri Lanka in the team’s first warm-up match ahead of the World Cup.

Amla has not played an ODI since South Africa’s home series against Pakistan in January and was included in the final squad amid questions over his form.

He answered those at the Cardiff Wales Stadium to put himself firmly in contention to take his place at the top of the order when the tournament starts next week.

Amla came into the World Cup after missing the home series against Sri Lanka and scoring only 92 runs in eight T20 matches for his domestic franchise, the Cape Cobras.

He opted out of competitive cricket to prepare for the tournament at home and trained in Durban under the watch of South Africa’s batting coach Dale Benkenstein. The early indications are that their efforts have paid off.

Far from the ageing great whose confidence was on the wane, Amla eased into his work effortlessly. In the third over, he struck a handsome straight drive off Suranga Lakmal to show glimpses of the Amla of old.

He took three more boundaries off Lakmal to race to 30 off 24 balls. By then, Amla had lost his opening partner, and also his closest competitor, Aiden Markram and was joined by captain Faf du Plessis, who proved the perfect partner for a long stint.

The pair shared in a second-wicket stand of 128 runs, with the only nervous moment an appeal for caught behind off Thisara Perera when Amla was on 39. He survived that and went on to bring up his half-century off 49 balls.

The scene was set for an Amla special and he threatened to deliver when he charged legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and took 12 runs, including two fours, off his opening over.

But du Plessis took over the role of aggressor and Amla found himself playing catch-up. He didn’t pick a Kusal Mendis googly and was bowled in the 24th over but the signs he showed are promising.

There was a lightness of touch to Amla’s approach, he turned the strike over regularly, found gaps and used his feet. All that must be taken in the context of the opposition, a Sri Lankan side still searching for their identity under new captain Dimuth Karunaratne.

It must also be taken with the knowledge that Amla came into the event under intense scrutiny and a self-declared hunger to make what could be his last World Cup, his best.

Things remain challenging for Amla, with his father still seriously ill, but his return to form means that South Africa’s selection for their opening match against England will be tricky.

Quinton de Kock, who was rested from the batting line-up but returned to keep wicket during some of Sri Lanka’s innings, is all but guaranteed to start. Either Markram or Amla will join him and which one does may depend on the runs they score in Sunday’s warm-up fixture against West Indies in Bristol.

That match will also be used to assess the middle-order where the competition is intensifying between David Miller, JP Duminy and Rassie van der Dussen. Miller and Duminy scored 5 and 22 respectively and failed to cash in on the opportunity to score big while van der Dussen’s quick-fire 40 off 41 balls could put him ahead of his more experienced team-mates when the starting XI for the match against England is decided.