The Proteas and Sri Lanka have set up what should be a thrilling final day of the second test at St George’s Park in Gqeberha after the visitors reached the close of play on day four on 205-5, needing a further 143 runs to win the match.
It has been a fantastic four days of back-and-forth action, after the Proteas batted first and scored 358, with Sri Lanka responding with 328 before the Proteas were bowled out for 317 in their second innings just after lunch.
Sri Lanka then looked in a spot of bother on 122-5, before captain Dhananjaya de Silva (39*) and Kusal Mendis (39*) combined for an unbeaten 83-run sixth- wicket stand to bat their team back into the match and in with a chance of a win on day five.
Day 4 | Stumps 🟢🟡
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 8, 2024
Paterson and Maharaj were the chief destroyers with the ball!🫡
🇿🇦South Africa: 358/10 (1st Innings)
🇱🇰Sri Lanka: 328/10 (1st Innings)
🇿🇦South Africa: 317/10 (2nd Innings)
🇱🇰Sri Lanka: 205/5 (2nd Innings)
Five more wickets needed to seal a 2-0 Series… pic.twitter.com/dmwAeeKarl
After tea Sri Lanka picked up their final innings on 60-2, but were pegged back straight away as Dinesh Chandimal (29) was trapped LBW by Dane Paterson, leaving them on 64-3.
Angelo Matthews (32) and Kamindu Mendis (35) then combined for a positive 53-run fourth-wicket partnership to get the chase back on track, which included taking their side past 100.
However, a quick double strike set the visitors back as spinner Keshav Maharaj struck in successive overs, tossing one up to bowl Matthews and then having Kamindu stunningly caught by keeper Kyle Verreynne, who reacted superbly to snag the ball one handed to the left of the stumps, as they fell to 122-5.
But that brought De Silva and Kusal together and they looked in superb nick as they set about reviving the chase and giving their team a great chance of levelling the series on the final day.
ACTION-PACKED POST-LUNCH SESSION
It was an action packed post-lunch session that saw the Proteas tail-enders go on the attack with the bat, before Sri Lanka lost two wickets at the start of their chase going into tea.
The Proteas resumed their second innings on 282-8 and Kagiso Rabada immediately got stuck in, hammering Lahiru Kumara for back-to-back boundaries before he got pinged on the helmet and then top edged him to the keeper with the score 290-9.
Maharaj (14*) hammered a four and a six, while Paterson (14) clubbed a six over long on and two boundaries, before he was yorked by Asitha Fernando to end the innings.
ROCKY START FOR SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka’s chase got off to a rocky start as Pathum Nissanka (18) was given out LBW off Marco Jansen in the second over, but reviewed and was reprieved with DRS showing the ball pitched outside leg.
But just five balls later Dimuth Karunaratne (4) was pegged in front by Rabada, with the review this time showing the umpire got it right, to reduce Sri Lanka to 10-1.
Nissanka and Chandimal combined to share 37 for the second wicket, before Paterson induced a big edge from Nissanka to Verreynne as they slipped to 47-2, with Matthews and Chandimal then easing their side to tea.
SRI LANKA SPINNER BAGS FIVE
In the morning session a five-wicket haul from Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, 5-117, helped his side battle their way back into the match.
The Proteas started the day in a dominant position, but after five wickets fell in the first session, four for just 25 runs heading into lunch, it dragged the visitors back into contention.
The Proteas started the day on 191-3 in their second innings, with captain Temba Bavuma (66) and Tristan Stubbs (47) taking them past 200, while Bavuma brought up a well-played half century, his fourth straight score in excess of fifty.
Mr Consistent😏
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 8, 2024
Temba Bavuma brings up yet another half-century in this series!
He is in a rich vein of form at the moment.🏏👌#WozaNawe#BePartOfIt #SAvSL pic.twitter.com/svsxb0lrkq
Both batters looked untroubled and it took a disastrous mix up for Sri Lanka to get the breakthrough as Bavuma knocked the ball into the leg side and they set off for a two, but neither batter ran at pace.
Stubbs tried to send Bavuma back, but the captain continued with Stubbs setting off for the other end after a pause. His dive was unable to save him as he was comfortably run out, leaving them on 213-4.
David Bedingham (35) was next in and was immediately treated to a barrage of short pitched bowling, but unlike in the first innings he saw it out comfortably and helped Bavuma take them past 250, before the Proteas captain was deceived by a viciously spinning ball from Jayasuriya to be bowled, with the score 254-5.
That started a procession that saw Bedingham edge another turning ball from Jayasuriya to Dhananjaya da Silva at slip, and Verreynne (9) poked at a ball from Vishwa Fernando in the corridor of uncertainty to nick to keeper Kusal Mendis.
With the new ball almost available Jansen (8) looked to hit out, crashing a four before being caught on the boundary going for a six off Jayasuriya as they crashed to 279-8, before Maharaj and Rabada took them to lunch.
SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson
SRI LANKA: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis (wk), Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando