DAY 2: Jansen’s seven blows Sri Lanka away to record low

In a barely believable spectacle, Marco Jansen claimed his best test figures of 7/13 as the Proteas blew away Sri Lanka for just 42 runs in 13.5 overs – the lowest test score against South Africa – on a dramatic second afternoon of the first test at Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday.

South Africa’s openers, Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi, returned to the crease for the hosts’ second innings and something like sanity prevailed as they went into tea on 28 without loss in six overs, an overall lead of 177.

The Sri Lankan innings was characterised by some fine bowling from Jansen, but also some poor technique from the Sri Lankan batters who poked and flashed outside the off-stump as if they had never played test cricket before, much less learnt anything from batting consultant Neil McKenzie who mentored them for two weeks before the match.

It was Jansen’s second five-for in test cricket – his seven scalps spanned just 41 legitimate deliveries that made it the equal fewest number of balls to take seven wickets – and well though he bowled on a bouncy, pacey Kingsmead pitch, he will probably never receive so much help from the batters.

The action began immediately after lunch when Sri Lanka began their reply to South Africa’s first innings of 191. If that felt like a below-par total, it was soon raised to a degree of significance that few could have imagined.

The Sri Lankan blood began to flow in the third over, delivered by Kagiso Rabada, when Dimuth Karunaratne fenced at one outside the off-stump, edging to David Bedingham at first slip who took a fine low catch. It was the first of Bedingham’s three catches in the position, to go with Tristan Stubbs’s brace in the cordon.

Jansen bowled throughout from the Old Fort Road end with a powerful south-westerly wind at his back and he soon got into the act when he had Pathum Nissanka caught by Stubbs in the fourth over. The lanky left-arm bowler then added to his tally when he ripped out Dinesh Chandimal’s leg-stump with a delivery that darted through the gap between bat and pad with the batter trapped on the crease.

Angelo Mathews was the next to go, flapping outside his off-stump stroke and edging again to Bedingham. Kamindu Mendis flayed three fours before slashing once too often, edging Gerald Coetzee to that man Bedingham.

Thereafter it was all too easy for the Proteas’ bowlers with Coetzee trapping Kusal Mendis leg before and Jansen cleaning up the tail with three more victims, the last being Asitha Fernando who played a classic tailender’s hoick to loft a return catch to the big man.

In all the innings lasted 78 minutes and 13.5 overs (83 balls). That made it the second shortest innings in test history with South Africa ironically claiming first and third in the stats of shame with 30 all out in 75 balls against England in 1924 and 30 all out in 94 balls against England in 1896. The top two stats took place exactly 100 years apart.

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (capt.), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada

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