Dhananjaya de Silva-Kusal Mendis stand gives Sri Lanka outside chance
Sri Lanka need another 143 runs on the final day, with five wickets in hand but a long tail to follow
Sri Lanka 328 and 205 for 5 (Dhananjaya 39*, Kusal 39*, Paterson 2-33, Maharaj 2-62) need 143 runs to beat South Africa 358 and 317 (Bavuma 66, Markram 55, Jayasuriya 5-129)
South Africa took major strides towards wrapping up a series whitewash on day four in Gqeberha, dismissing Sri Lanka’s top five after setting a mammoth 348 to win.
An unbroken 83-run stand between Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis has given Sri Lanka mild hope going into the final day. But they are still 143 runs shy, and are the last batters are shielding a particularly inept tail – Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, and Asitha Fernando all having been No. 11s in other Sri Lanka sides. To win, Sri Lanka would not only have to defy South Africa’s bowling with the second new ball (due in 28 overs), they’d also have to contend with morning conditions, which have tended to be trickier than afternoon or evening ones so far this Test.
Sri Lanka will perhaps, take some heart from their previous chase in Gqeberha, however, which came in 2019. On that occasion they had needed 137 to win overnight, with eight wickets in hand, and got to the target without losing a wicket the following morning. It had been Kusal who had led that chase. He and de Silva were both 39 not out at stumps here.
Keshav Maharaj, working now with a pitch that was taking some turn on the fourth afternoon, made the most critical strikes to the Sri Lanka chase. Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis had struck up a 53-run stand, and had appeared to see off the worst of the seam-bowlers’ spells. But Maharaj slipped a straighter, flatter ball under Mathews’ big slog sweep to end the partnership, before, in his following over, he had Kamindu caught bat-pad by wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, who dived desperately to get his glove under the dying chance. That double-strike had left Sri Lanka at a near-hopeless 122 for 5, until de Silva and Kusal defibrillated the innings.
Earlier, the quicks had dismissed Sri Lanka’s top three with the new ball. In the third over, Rabada rapped Dimuth Karunaratne in front of the stumps to dismiss him cheaply for the fourth time in the series. Pathum Nissanka, who had previously overturned an lbw call against him, nicked off driving at a full, wide, swinging delivery from Paterson, in the 13th over. Paterson would also dismiss Chandimal with an inducker, which Chandimal’s review suggested would have just grazed leg stump. He’d made 29 at that point.
Before that, it had been largely Sri Lanka’s day, as they claimed the seven remaining South Africa wickets for 126 runs. That they hung in the game was down largely to Prabath Jayasuriya, who racked up his 10th five-wicket haul, and his first overseas, in the morning session. He had tangoed with the rough outside the right-hander’s leg stump during many of his 14 day-four overs, and for his excellent control and variety, claimed three wickets to finish with figures of 5 for 129. The frontline seamers took one day-four wicket apiece.
The most dramatic dismissal of the day was the first. Tristan Stubbs and overnight partner Temba Bavuma had begun the day brightly, and had extended their fourth-wicket stand to 103, when Bavuma clubbed a Lahiru Kumara ball to deep midwicket and took off for a tight two. Stubbs hesitated upon turning for the second however, and attempted to turn Bavuma back but did so too late. The pair were caught mid-pitch for long enough that Kumara could get back to the non-striker’s stumps and run Stubbs out with ease. He was out for 47.
South Africa 1st Innings
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Aiden Markram
b Kumara
20 35 55 4 0 57.14
Tony de Zorzi
lbw b AM Fernando
0 1 6 0 0 0.00
Ryan Rickelton
c Nissanka b Kumara
101 250 361 11 0 40.40
Tristan Stubbs
c †BKG Mendis b Kumara
4 18 16 0 0 22.22
Temba Bavuma (c)
c †BKG Mendis b AM Fernando
78 109 152 8 1 71.55
David Bedingham
b Jayasuriya
6 19 26 0 0 31.57
Kyle Verreynne †
not out 105 133 202 12 3 78.94
Marco Jansen
b MVT Fernando
4 5 6 1 0 80.00
Keshav Maharaj
c Karunaratne b MVT Fernando
0 4 8 0 0 0.00
Kagiso Rabada
b AM Fernando
23 40 60 5 0 57.50
Dane Paterson
c PHKD Mendis b Kumara
9 10 14 2 0 90.00
Extras (b 1, lb 1, nb 2, w 4) 8
Total
103.4 Ov
(RR: 3.45)
358
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Tony de Zorzi, 1.1 ov), 2-32 (Aiden Markram, 11.2 ov), 3-44 (Tristan Stubbs, 15.4 ov), 4-177 (Temba Bavuma, 52.6 ov), 5-186 (David Bedingham, 59.2 ov), 6-263 (Ryan Rickelton, 85.3 ov), 7-269 (Marco Jansen, 86.3 ov), 8-269 (Keshav Maharaj, 88.1 ov), 9-325 (Kagiso Rabada, 100.5 ov), 10-358 (Dane Paterson, 103.4 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Vishwa Fernando
22 6 65
2
2.95 0 0
Asitha Fernando
24 2 102
3
4.25 3 0
Lahiru Kumara
17.4 3 79
4
4.47 1 2
Prabath Jayasuriya
31 4 84
1
2.70 0 0
Dhananjaya de Silva
9 1 26 0 2.88 0 0
Sri Lanka 1st Innings
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Pathum Nissanka
b Maharaj
89 157 236 11 1 56.68
Dimuth Karunaratne
c †Verreynne b Rabada
20 43 65 4 0 46.51
Dinesh Chandimal
c †Verreynne b Paterson
44 97 114 5 0 45.36
Angelo Mathews
c †Verreynne b Jansen
44 90 130 6 0 48.88
Kamindu Mendis
c Markram b Jansen
48 92 93 4 0 52.17
Dhananjaya de Silva (c)
c Markram b Paterson
14 27 52 1 0 51.85
Kusal Mendis †
b Paterson
16 28 38 3 0 57.14
Prabath Jayasuriya
st †Verreynne b Maharaj
24 32 53 4 0 75.00
Lahiru Kumara
c Jansen b Paterson
0 2 1 0 0 0.00
Vishwa Fernando
c †Verreynne b Paterson
2 31 43 0 0 6.45
Asitha Fernando
not out 0 2 3 0 0 0.00
Extras (b 13, lb 8, nb 5, w 1) 27
Total
99.2 Ov
(RR: 3.30)
328
Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Dimuth Karunaratne, 15.4 ov), 2-150 (Dinesh Chandimal, 44.2 ov), 3-199 (Pathum Nissanka, 55.2 ov), 4-261 (Angelo Mathews, 76.2 ov), 5-268 (Kamindu Mendis, 80.3 ov), 6-297 (Dhananjaya de Silva, 88.1 ov), 7-298 (Kusal Mendis, 88.3 ov), 8-298 (Lahiru Kumara, 88.5 ov), 9-327 (Vishwa Fernando, 98.4 ov), 10-328 (Prabath Jayasuriya, 99.2 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Kagiso Rabada
24 7 56
1
2.33 0 0
Marco Jansen
25 4 100
2
4.00 0 0
Dane Paterson
22 4 71
5
3.22 0 5
Keshav Maharaj
24.2 5 65
2
2.67 1 0
Aiden Markram
4 0 15 0 3.75 0 0
South Africa 2nd Innings
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Tony de Zorzi
b Jayasuriya
19 38 57 2 0 50.00
Aiden Markram
c †BKG Mendis b MVT Fernando
55 75 101 5 0 73.33
Ryan Rickelton
lbw b Jayasuriya
24 45 63 3 0 53.33
Tristan Stubbs
run out (Karunaratne/Kumara)
47 112 147 2 0 41.96
Temba Bavuma (c)
b Jayasuriya
66 116 172 3 2 56.89
David Bedingham
c de Silva b Jayasuriya
35 55 69 3 0 63.63
Kyle Verreynne †
c †BKG Mendis b MVT Fernando
9 27 33 1 0 33.33
Marco Jansen
c AM Fernando b Jayasuriya
8 11 13 1 0 72.72
Keshav Maharaj
not out 14 22 38 1 1 63.63
Kagiso Rabada
c †BKG Mendis b Kumara
8 8 15 2 0 100.00
Dane Paterson
b AM Fernando
14 8 17 2 1 175.00
Extras (b 1, lb 7, nb 1, w 9) 18
Total
86 Ov
(RR: 3.68)
317
Fall of wickets: 1-55 (Tony de Zorzi, 13.4 ov), 2-96 (Aiden Markram, 24.3 ov), 3-109 (Ryan Rickelton, 29.1 ov), 4-213 (Tristan Stubbs, 60.5 ov), 5-254 (Temba Bavuma, 71.4 ov), 6-268 (David Bedingham, 77.2 ov), 7-273 (Kyle Verreynne, 78.6 ov), 8-279 (Marco Jansen, 79.6 ov), 9-290 (Kagiso Rabada, 82.4 ov), 10-317 (Dane Paterson, 85.6 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Vishwa Fernando
19 4 47
2
2.47 7 0
Asitha Fernando
14 2 52
1
3.71 2 0
Lahiru Kumara
16 0 71
1
4.43 0 0
Prabath Jayasuriya
34 2 129
5
3.79 0 1
Dhananjaya de Silva
3 0 10 0 3.33 0 0
Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (T: 348 runs)
Batting R B 4s 6s SR
Pathum Nissanka
c †Verreynne b Paterson
18 44 4 0 40.90
Dimuth Karunaratne
lbw b Rabada
1 3 0 0 33.33
Dinesh Chandimal
lbw b Paterson
29 57 5 0 50.87
Angelo Mathews
b Maharaj
32 59 4 1 54.23
Kamindu Mendis
c †Verreynne b Maharaj
35 35 4 1 100.00
Dhananjaya de Silva (c)
not out 39 64 7 0 60.93
Kusal Mendis †
not out 39 56 2 2 69.64
Extras (b 5, lb 1, nb 6) 12
Total
52 Ov
(RR: 3.94)
205/5
Yet to bat:
Prabath Jayasuriya,
Asitha Fernando,
Lahiru Kumara,
Vishwa Fernando
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Dimuth Karunaratne, 2.2 ov), 2-47 (Pathum Nissanka, 12.3 ov), 3-64 (Dinesh Chandimal, 20.6 ov), 4-117 (Angelo Mathews, 31.5 ov), 5-122 (Kamindu Mendis, 33.1 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Kagiso Rabada
13 2 44
1
3.38 0 3
Marco Jansen
10 1 54 0 5.40 0 2
Keshav Maharaj
16 2 62
2
3.87 0 0
Dane Paterson
12 3 33
2
2.75 0 1
Aiden Markram
1 0 6 0 6.00 0 0
