COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Sunday set South Africa a highly improbable 490 to win the second Test and avoid their first series defeat by the Islanders since 2006.
Having skittled out the visitors for 124 in their first innings and secured a 214-run lead, the hosts declared on 275 for five on the afternoon of the third day.
South Africa’s bowlers toiled for 47 overs on Sunday to dismiss just the overnight pair of Dimuth Karunaratne – caught behind for 85 off fast bowler Lungi Ngidi – and Angelo Mathews.
The latter became Keshav Maharaj’s 12th wicket of the match. There was no joy for Dale Steyn, who will have to wait until the next Test series against Zimbabwe in September and October – if he is picked – to overtake Shaun Pollock as the Proteas’ leading Test wicket-taker.
Steyn has been tied with Pollock on 421 dismissals since the first Test last week in Galle, won by Sri Lanka within three days.
Sri Lanka vs South Africa, 2nd Test scoreboard:
Colombo, July 22 (AFP/APP): Scoreboard on the third day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Colombo on Sunday:
Sri Lanka first innings 338 (De Silva 60, Gunathilaka 57, Karunaratne 53, Maharaj 9-129)
South Africa first innings 124 (Dananjaya 5-52)
Sri Lanka second innings (overnight 151-3)
D Gunathilaka c Elgar b Maharaj 61
D Karunaratne c de Kock b Ngidi 85
D De Silva lbw Maharaj 0
K Mendis run out (Markram) 18
A Mathews c du Plessis b Maharaj 71
R Silva not out 32
N Dickwella not out 7
Extras (1 nb) 1
Total (5 wickets declared, 81 overs) 275
Did not bat: D Perera, A Dananjaya, S Lakmal, R Herath
Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Gunathilaka), 2-102 (de Silva), 3-136 (Mendis), 4-199 (Karunaratne), 5-263 (Mathews)
Bowling: Maharaj 40-4-154-3, Rabada 8-0-42-0, Markram 7-1-18-0, de Bruyn 5-0-20-0, Steyn 11-2-30-0, Ngidi 9-5-9-1, Elgar 1-0-2-0
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Theunis de Bruyn, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi
A relevant piece published earlier: Sri Lanka surged to 151 for 3 in their second innings on Saturday – a 365-run overall lead – as they sought a whitewash triumph over South Africa in their two-Test series. After their spinners had skittled out South Africa for just 124 in their first innings, Sri Lankan openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Dimuth Karunaratne put on a quickfire 91 to set the foundation for another strong score on the Colombo pitch. Gunathilaka was Sri Lanka’s primary aggressor, hitting six fours and two sixes in his 61 off 68 balls after tea on the second day. Keshav Maharaj struck twice to remove Gunathilaka and Dhananjaya da Silva, for a duck, but Karunaratne progressed smoothly at the other end to reach 59 while Angelo Mathews had 12. The hosts built up their domineering lead at the end of a day in which their 10th wicket pair added valuable runs to build the first inning of 338. South Africa was then routed by Sri Lanka’s spinners with Akila Dananjaya taking five for 52. Dananjaya and Rangana Herath frustrated South Africa through the morning session as they added 61 runs to the overnight total. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj eventually dismissed Herath to end the innings, and complete a haul of nine for 129 — the second-best for a South Africa bowler and the best since the country made a post-apartheid return to Tests in 1991. But Sri Lanka’s 338 was always going to be a challenge and Dananjaya, Herath and Dilruwan Perera then tore through the South African batting, already exposed by their defeat in the first Test in Galle. Dananjaya took his second five-wicket haul in Tests while Herath and Perera shared the remaining five South African wickets. Stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal was not required to deliver a single ball. Only South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock showed resistance, making 48 off 51 balls and 32 off 31 respectively. South Africa lasted only 34.5 overs after Sri Lanka had batted for 104.1 overs in their first innings. Dananjaya, left out for the first Test at Galle, struck with his second ball of the match, having Dean Elgar caught at gully with a turning offbreak. He got Theunis de Bruyn edging behind in the next over, and Perera picked up the South Africa middle order to finish on four for 40. The only batsman to put any pressure on Sri Lanka was du Plessis, who attacked the spinners after lunch, sweeping with abandon as he struck eight fours and a six. Du Plessis and Hashim Amla put on the best partnership of 55, but Perera dismissed them both within four overs of each other. Despite de Kock’s aggressive innings, the remainder of South Africa’s batting was easy meat when Dananjaya came back. Du Plessis left the field at the end of the day with a worried look on his face. (Published on 21st July 2018)
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