Mamelodi Sundowns breezed into the final of the Carling Black Label Cup with a commanding 3-0 win over a disjointed AmaZulu FC on Saturday.

This was an opening tie in the one-off competition which also features Kaizer Chiefs and their Soweto arch-rivals Orlando Pirates who will battle for the remaining final spot in the second match kicking off at noon.

Sundowns took the lead early in the first half when Cassius Mailula’s shot inside the area deflected off AmaZulu skipper Makhehleni Makhaula and beat goalkeeper Veli Mothwa who too aided the ball into the net.

Sundowns had Usuthu chasing shadows for the better part of the entire match, with Bongani Zungu, Thapelo Morena, Gaston Sirino and Themba Zwane prominent in creating the openings which were mainly wasted by Mailula and his strike partner Gift Motupa.

Both strikers were withdrawn for Hashim Domingo and Bradley Ralani in the second half.

AmaZulu hardly saw the ball and on a rare occasion when they had it striker Gabadinho Mhango couldn’t beat Grant Kekana and Rushine de Reuck, the Sundowns centre backs quickly robbing him of possession.

Even when AmaZulu made several changes at the start of the second half and had plenty of sympathetic support from Kaizer Chiefs fans, they still battled to give Sundowns any trouble.

Overall the run was good for Zungu who has not had much game time since rejoining Sundowns from Europe at the start the current campaign. Zungu had it easy in the centre of the midfield where he had the protection of Andile Jali, the man who really revelled in this match, giving Sundowns both attacking and defensive momentum.

For Mutupa, the minutes he had on the field were enough for him to give the Sundowns bench an opinion on whether he deserves a regular run in the star-studded team. But based on what Motupa did it is clear he still has a lot to do to prove his worth for the Brazilians.

Mailula too was very wasteful in a match that Sundowns should have won with an avalanche of goals, especially given the chances they had in the opening half.

But Sundowns' second goal was a beauty, with Domingo rolling in the ball after Sirino had supplied the final pass after a fast-flowing move that had many Brazilian players contributing.

The goal, which came 20 minutes from time, ended all hope Usuthu had of finding an equaliser as Sundowns quickly turned the match into a training session after they had expanded their lead.

Ralani completed the rout with a cheeky chip from inside the box after one of those touches Sundowns had on the ball with AmaZulu just failing to win the ball.

The match really turned into an exhibition when Sundowns introduced four more players, including Ricardo Coetzee the midfielder who has spent many months on the sidelines due to injuries.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos must have watched this first of the three games holding his breath as he has 13 players he selected for the two friendlies against Mozambique and Angola next week participating in this competition.

At the least in this encounter there was no player who hopped off with an injury though there was a scare when De Reuck got a knock towards the end.