GQEBERHA: South African captain Temba Bavuma said his team’s 109-run win in the second Test against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park on Monday was a big step forward for a largely inexperienced group of players.

“For a lot of the guys it was a proper taste of what Test cricket is about,” said Bavuma of a hard-fought match. “It’s rare when you get to play for five days and it’s also rare when the game is always in the balance. There were times when we were on top and times when Sri Lanka were getting the momentum on their side.”

The win put South Africa on top of the World Test Championship table, which is based on average points gained.

South Africa can make certain of qualifying for the final at Lord’s in England next June if they beat Pakistan in a two-match series which starts on Dec 26.

“The WTC table looks good,” Bavuma told media. “We see ourselves at number one with two games to go. I don’t know what the maths looks like but we’re playing good cricket and we want it to continue.”

Bavuma was named player of the series after scoring 327 runs in four innings, with a century and three fifties, but said other individuals in the team were making major contributions.

Three South Africans made centuries and three bowlers had five-wicket hauls, including Keshav Maharaj, who took five for 76 to seal Monday’s win.

Sri Lanka lost their remaining five wickets for 33 runs on Monday.

Their hopes of an upset win were extinguished when overnight batsmen De Silva and Kusal Mendis were dismissed inside the first 10 overs of the day.

De Silva and Mendis, the team’s last recognised batsmen, resumed on 205 for five, still needing 143 runs to win.

Maharaj made the first breakthrough when Mendis edged a low catch to Aiden Markram at slip. He made 46 in a 97-run sixth wicket partnership with De Silva.

Kagiso Rabada then had De Silva caught behind for 50. The last three wickets fell quickly with Maharaj claiming two more scalps and Marco Jansen finishing the match with his first ball of the day when Lahiru Kumara was caught off a wild slog.

SCOREBOARD

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 358

SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 328

SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings) 317

SRI LANKA (2nd Innings, overnight 205-5):

P. Nissanka c Verreynne b Paterson 18

D. Karunaratne lbw b Rabada 1

D. Chandimal lbw b Paterson 29

A. Mathews b Maharaj 32

K.G. Mendis c Verreynne b Maharaj 35

D. de Silva c Verreynne b Rabada 50

K. Mendis c Markram b Maharaj 46

P. Jayasuriya c Bavuma b Maharaj 9

V. Fernando c Jansen b Maharaj 5

L. Kumara c Rickelton b Jansen 1

A. Fernando not out 0

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1, NB-6) 12

TOTAL (all out, 69.1 overs) 238

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10 (Karunaratne), 2-47 (Silva), 3-64 (Chandimal), 4-117 (Mathews), 5-122 (K.G. Mendis), 6-219 (K. Mendis), 7-225 (de Silva), 8-233 (Jayasuriya), 9-238 (V. Fernando)

BOWLING Rabada 21-3-63-2 (3nb), Jansen 10.1-1-54-1 (2nb), Maharaj 25-3-76-5, Paterson 12-3-33-2 (1nb), Markram 1-0-6-0

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024