DURBAN: Sri Lanka were dismissed for their lowest test total of 42 after South Africa’s Marco Jansen produced bowling heroics to help the hosts take a firm grip on the first Test by opening a 281-run lead by the close of play on the second day.

The lanky Jansen took a career best 7-13 as Sri Lanka were all out inside 14 overs as 19 wickets fell on a lively surface at Kingsmead on Thursday.

South Africa, put in to bat and 80-4 overnight, were bowled out for 191 by lunch in their first innings but were on 132-3 in their second as they chase victory to stay on track for a place in the World Test Championship final at Lords next June.

Jansen, 24, is only the second bowler to take seven wickets inside seven overs of a Test innings, emulating former Australia captain Hugh Trumble, whose 7-28 in 6.5 overs, including a hat-trick, bowled them to victory over England in Melbourne in 1904.

Jansen’s haul also took only 41 balls after clean bowling three Sri Lan­kans, having three more cau­ght in the slips and finishing off the inn­ings with a caught and bowled as last man Asitha Fer­na­ndo struck a delivery high into the sky.

Sri Lankas score was the tied-ninth lowest innings in Test his­tory and their own worse total by 29 runs after their previous low of 71 against Pakistan.

It was also the lowest Test inn­ings total at the Durban venue, eclipsing the 53 scored by Bangladesh.

Gerald Coet­zee took 2-18 and Kagiso Rabada the first wicket on a seamer-frie­n­dly surface that gave the home attack plenty of assistance but with the Sri Lankans contributing to their rapid demise with some shocking batting.

Kamindu Men­des top scored with 13 runs while five players were dismissed without scoring.

Home captain Temba Bavuma top-scored with 70 runs in South Africas first innings, returning after missing last months two-Test series victory in Bangladesh with an elbow injury, and was 24 not out at stumps along with Tristan Stubbs on 17.

Aiden Markram scored 47 in South Africa’s second innings before being bowled by Vishwa Fernando while Prabath Jayasuriya took two wickets to reach 100 in his test career in only 17 Tests and become the joint second-quickest to a ton of wickets.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 80-4):

A. Markram c Mathews b A. Fernando9
T. de Zorzi c K.G. Mendis b V. Fernando4
T. Stubbs c Karunaratne b Kumara16
T. Bavuma c Kumara b A. Fernando70
D. Bedingham b Kumara4
K. Verreynne lbw b Kumara9
W. Mulder not out9
M. Jansen lbw b Jayasuriya13
G. Coetzee c K.G. Mendis b Jayasuriya1
K. Maharaj c de Silva b V. Fernando24
K. Rabada c Chandimal b A. Fernando15

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-5, NB-4, W-6)17
TOTAL (all out, 49.4 overs)191
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (Markram), 2-14 (de Zorzi), 3-46 (Stubbs), 4-54 (Bedingham), 5-83 (Verreynne), 6-113 (Jansen), 7-117 (Coetzee), 8-143 (Maharaj), 9-165 (Bavuma)
BOWLING: A. Fernando 14.4-3-44-3, V. Fernando 15-2-35-2 (2w), Mathews 2-2-0-0, Kumara 12-1-70-3 (4nb), Jayasuriya 5-1-24-2, de Silva 1-0-11-0

SRI LANKA (1st Innings):

P. Nissanka c Stubbs b Jansen3
D. Karunaratne c Bedingham b Rabada2
D. Chandimal b Jansen0
A. Mathews c Bedingham b Jansen1
K.G. Mendis c Bedingham b Coetzee13
D. de Silva b Jansen7
K. Mendis lbw b Coetzee0
P. Jayasuriya c Stubbs b Jansen0
V. Fernando b Jansen0
L. Kumara not out10
A. Fernando c&b Jansen0

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-4, W-1)6
TOTAL (all out, 13.5 overs)42
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6 (Karunaratne), 2-7 (Silva), 3-9 (Chandimal), 4-16 (Mathews), 5-32 (K.G. Mendis), 6-32 (de Silva), 7-32 (Jayasuriya), 8-32 (K. Mendis), 9-42 (Fernando)
BOWLING: Rabada 4-1-10-1 (1nb), Jansen 6.5-1-13-7 (1w, 3nb), Coetzee 3-0-18-2

SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings):

T. de Zorzi c A. Fernando b Jayasuriya17
A. Markram b V. Fernando47
W. Mulder lbw b Jayasuriya15
T. Stubbs not out17
T. Bavuma not out24

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-8)12
TOTAL (for three wickets, 40 overs)132
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-47 (de Zorzi), 2-77 (Mulder), 3-89 (Markram)
STILL TO BAT: D. Bedingham, K. Verreynne, M. Jansen, G. Coetzee, K. Maharaj, K. Rabada
BOWLING: A. Fernando 8-1-25-0, V. Fernando 10-1-33-1, Kumara 7-3-14-0, Jayasuriya 15-1-48-2

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024