Rain Prevention Welcome Some Drama on Day 2
On the following day, which was the second day of the first Test meeting between the two team,s South Africa was struggling on Kingsmead.
Durban, after only 20.4 overs were played on the first day due to rain and the teams going to bed with no play at all Sri Lanka had a worse day as they were going into bat but South Africa clinched the first-innings lead.
South Africa started their second innings on 191 with a lower order along with captain Temba Bavuma.
Bavuma came back after an elbow injury and batted serenely to score 70 runs in an innings, which marked his 22nd Test half-century.
Bavuma’s bat was stable on one side of things, but the rest of the South African batting could not handle the Sri Lankan seamers.
Chamika Karunaratne supported well with 3 for 70, while Asith and Fernando returned 3 for 44 to bowl the Proteas all out under 200.
Sri Lanka’s Record-low Collapse
In response, Sri Lanka had a nightmare of a morning and was bundled for 42, their lowest Test score ever in 13.3 overs.
Marco Jansen spearheaded the South African bowling attack with a career-best spell of 7/13 in just 41 deliveries.
The dismissal began earlier as Kagiso Rabada sent Dimuth Karunaratne back to the pavilion. Jansen then attacked the Sri Lankan top order, dismissing Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal for very little money.
Gerald Coetzee added two wickets into the mix and Sri Lanka’s batters made some unwise decisions under duress.
Jansen’s lethal deliveries and his disciplined field placements ensured Sri Lanka could not recover.
Their capitulation gave South Africa a commanding 149-run first innings lead.
South Africa Stretch Lead
Batting again, the openers of South Africa took the lead to 177 by scoring 28 runs in six overs before stumps.
Now, with Sri Lanka already under tremendous pressure, the Proteas are more than well-placed to push for a decisive victory.
Test to Forget for Sri Lanka
Sri Lankans are playing really badly, especially in batting and making wrong decisions, which led them into a bad situation.
For South Africa, the spell by Marco Jansen will remain etched in the annals of the history of Test cricket, which is one of the most popular spells recorded.
Reference: ESPN Cricinfo
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