Proteas crush Sri Lanka by an innings and 45 runs

South Africa completed an excellent comeback victory over Sri Lanka to triumph by an innings and 45 runs shortly after lunch on the fourth day of the first Betway test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.

The final game in the two-game series starts at the Imperial Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.

This was an entertaining test match which moved forward quickly right from the off when Sri Lanka, bravely opting to bat first on an alien seamer-friendly pitch, scored at more than four runs to the over as they compiled their biggest total – 396 – on South African soil.

But, after such a disappointing start from their bowlers, at least on the first day, the Proteas took charge of the match as they replied with a mammoth 621 in their first innings – their highest ever total at SuperSport Park – thanks to a magisterial 199 from man-of-the-match Faf du Plessis and half-centuries from Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj.

Commenting on his knock afterwards, Du Plessis said: “Personally I'm very proud of my 199, which was obviously one short, but to be able to contribute in a big way to help my team win was great as I haven't played a red-ball game in almost a year. For me, it was about making sure I got back to the basics of good test cricket."

Sri Lanka’s chances of remaining competitive were fatally compromised by a succession of injuries to key players, particularly top-order batsman Dhananjaya de Silva and pace bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara. This prompted debate about the need for the reform of ICC injury regulations.

Batting for the second time with a deficit of 225, Sri Lanka lost two early wickets on Monday evening before South Africa effectively finished them off in Tuesday’s morning session, capturing five wickets with a greatly improved performance from their seamers, particularly Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Lutho Sipamla.

HOBBLING RAJITHA

It was left to Sipamla and Anrich Nortje to complete the job after lunch with the 22-year-old debutant grabbing his second wicket when he had Wanindu Hasaranga caught in the deep while Nortje had a hobbling Kasun Rajitha caught in the gully. De Silva, who had been forced to retire hurt on 79 in the first innings, did not come out to bat again.

Sipamla, after a nervy start, grew in assurance throughout the rest of the match, finishing with 4/76 in Sri Lanka’s first innings and 2/24 in the second.

The two bright performances in the Sri Lankan second innings came from Kusal Perera, who cracked a breezy 64 in 87 balls, while Hasaranga, the visitors’ test debutant, complemented his four-wicket haul in South Africa’s only innings with a bright 59 in 53 balls, including 12 fours and a six.

Sri Lanka must now, almost literally, lick their wounds before Sunday, and work out how to pick a fit, balanced team for the Wanderers.

Quinton de Kock, the South Africa captain, said that despite letting Sri Lanka amass a good first-innings total, he was pleased with his side's performance. "A test match is never easy. It's been a year since we've won one so it feels good at this moment.

"On day one we were a bit disappointed with our bowling performance... we came back really nicely towards the end of our bowling spell. We then came out with the bat... showed some great character. Coming into the third innings, the boys came out with great intent with the ball and to finish off the way we did, it's very pleasing."

Dimuth Karunaratne, the Sri Lanka captain, hinted there would be changes forced by those injuries to his team for the second test. "As a batting unit, I'm really happy... We suddenly lost our main fast bowlers and Dhananjaya. We lost a couple of members of the squad but we have already a couple of youngsters, I hope they will do the job for me in the second test match."

"We batted really well and we need to keep that momentum and a positive mindset when we go to the Wanderers. We're not worried about the injuries. we have plenty of players, so I'm happy to go with them, still, we have a couple of bowlers and we'll try to take the positives from here."

Report Day 1
Report Day 2
Report Day 3

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock (capt & wk), Temba Bavuma, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi

SRI LANKA: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara