HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka (AP):

Jacques Kallis produced the best bowling performance by a South African in the 20-over format with 4-15 as the Proteas hammered Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the World Twenty20 yesterday.

The latest defeat eliminated Zimbabwe from the tournament, after they lost the team's first match in Group C by 82 runs against Sri Lanka.

Kallis led the seam attack as Zimbabwe were restricted to 93-8 and South Africa openers Richard Levi (50) and Hashim Amla (32) eased to 94-0 in only 12.4 overs at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium.

South Africa will meet Sri Lanka in the last Group C match tomorrow with both teams already qualified for the Super Eights.

Levis and Amla were untroubled by the Zimbabwean bowlers. Levi hit six fours off 43 balls while Amla rotated the strike well, facing 33 balls and hitting three boundaries.

PREPARED

"(I'm) very happy with the start. I back our pace bowlers to do well on this kind of deck. Hopefully, it's the same for the next game," South African captain AB de Villiers said.

"Richard and Hash started really well. We are definitely prepared for whatever the conditions may be. We've improved a lot facing spin in these conditions, so can't wait to take on what's coming our way."

Amla got lucky, though, when South Africa needed only six runs for the victory. Visu Sibanda dropped a sitter at point off medium fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, summing up a woeful day for the Zimbabweans.

"It's the end of the road," a disappointing Zimbabwean captain Brendan Taylor said. "They showed how classy a bowling line-up they are."

Earlier, Kallis got rid of Stuart Matsikenyeri (11) and Elton Chigumbura (0) with successive deliveries and returned to have Graeme Cremer and top-scorer Craig Ervine (37) caught behind. Ervine hit four of the six boundaries in Zimbabwe innings as all the South African seamers got appreciable bounce and pace.