3rd Test SA 3-0 SL

Day 1

South Africa 338/3 (90.0 ov)

Sri Lanka

Few players in the modern age can bend Test cricket to their will in the manner of Hashim Amla. Coming into his 100th Test, Amla had gone ten innings without reaching fifty - one of the longest droughts of a career that began more than a decade to go. He walked off as the eighth man to have marked his century with a century, having joined JP Duminy in reaching three figures to put South Africa in a dominant position at the Wanderers.

This was Amla's day - it began with presentations of a commemorative shirt, plaque and gold medal and ended with him leaving the field to an ovation - but Duminy deserved more than a passing mention for his sixth Test century. Between them they put on a stand of 292, South Africa's highest for any wicket against Sri Lanka and fully justifying the decision by Faf du Plessis to put the tourists into the field in pursuit of a 3-0 series whitewash.

As keen Amla students will know, it does not pay to drop him; Sri Lanka duly did, a gift gratefully accepted. He struggled through the initial stages of his innings, hit on the thumb third ball and then sending a thick, low edge toward gully in the final over before lunch. He was on 5 at the time but Dhananjaya de Silva could not hold on to the chance. It was to cast a shadow over the rest of Sri Lanka's day.

Angelo Mathews surely smiled to himself at the toss when du Plessis chose not to insert, despite South Africa's decision to field a four-man pace attack including the debutant Duanne Olivier. But Sri Lanka's pain on this tour has been manifold and being put to sleep by Amla was not necessarily the kinder fate.

Sri Lanka did have some early success, with Mathews himself taking his first wicket in six Tests as South Africa stuttered to 45 for 2 in the 17th over, but Duminy went swiftly on the counterattack either side of lunch. Mathews ended up taking the second new ball and finished as the most economical bowler but there was little else to cheer Sri Lanka's captain after the early exchanges.

There was danger in the air, as well as some swing under cloudy skies, when Duminy began his innings but he took the opportunity to make a statement in what may be his final outing at No. 4 before AB de Villiers returns from injury. Despite reaching 50, 100 and 150 with controlled edges through or wide of the cordon, this was an assured innings, although he could not quite see it through to the close as Lahiru Kumara was rewarded for another long day of toil.

Happy to drive when the ball was pitched up by Sri Lanka's seamers, despite the bounce in the surface, Duminy scored 43 of the first 55 put on with Amla before reining himself in to ensure that he would reach his century, from just 140 balls, shortly after tea. Remarkably, having made 63 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth to set South Africa on their way, this was the first time Duminy had passed fifty twice in a series since his debut in Australia more than eight years ago.

His approach allowed Amla an extended period of bedding-in and South Africa's venerable No. 3 slowly but surely rose to the occasion. Survival was not the prettiest but Amla has credit in the bank where that is concerned. He had ground his way to 6 from 41 balls, his vigilance palpable after being given an early life, before flashing a cut for his first boundary. Later in the afternoon session, a brace of cover-driven fours off Suranga Lakmal suggested that his investment was paying off and he reached his fifty with a scuttled single in the last over before tea.

Some of the old serenity returned as he and South Africa pushed on, with fours driven off front and back foot against Kumara. Only when he came within a blow of his hundred did the moment threaten to disrupt his famed equilibrium, as he charged skittishly at Rangana Herath and lofted a drive fine of mid-off to emulate his former captain, Graeme Smith, the last man to score a hundred in his 100th Test - though on that occasion at The Oval, Amla's triple-century, the first by a South African, somewhat overshadowed Smith's achievement.

This was a day on which Sri Lanka needed some luck and a change of ball did the trick for them during the morning session. South Africa's openers, Dean Elgar and Stephen Cook, had seen off the new ball, with Lakmal particularly probing, but couldn't withstand its replacement. Mathews had Cook lbw for a ponderous 10 and then Kumara, having waited 14 overs for a chance on a Wanderers surface considered among the fastest and bounciest in the world, nipped out Elgar.

Given a juicy pitch and slightly overcast morning, it was curious that South Africa opted not to try and inflict immediate damage to Sri Lanka's fragile batting order. Olivier came in in place of the spinner Keshav Maharaj but was then asked to cool his heels in the dressing room. With 224 first-class wickets at 21.38, despite being just 24, the uncapped Olivier had a CV to give Sri Lanka shivers but his only contribution on the first day was to see off four balls as nightwatchman after Duminy's late dismissal.

It was not until the 11th over that bat met ball with attacking conviction, as Elgar struck Lakmal for back-to-back fours. That prompted Sri Lanka to twice enquire about changing the ball and, at the end of the over, the umpires agreed that it had gone out of shape; leading to the sight of Rod Tucker crouched over the pitch and repeatedly throwing the (presumably new) replacement into the surface, to get it into a comparable condition. Elgar looked on with apparent concern.

The switch was accompanied by a change in the bowling and it was Mathews who ended the opening stand at 45 when Cook shuffled in front of off stump, missed an in-dipper, and shuffled off. That brought in Amla, who was welcomed by Mathews hitting him on the glove. He also edged Mathews short of the slips before de Silva gave him a let-off when diving forward to a presentable chance at gully off Lakmal.


Elgar did fall in the over after his partner, ruffled by Kumara's pace and chasing a wide delivery to edge to slip, but that was to be Sri Lanka's last success for 72.2 overs as Amla rediscovered a familiar, and well-worn, groove.


Day 2

South Africa 426
Sri Lanka 80/4 (28.4 ov)

Sri Lanka trail by 346 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

At least one Sri Lankan enjoyed himself at the Wanderers. The third Test followed a largely predictable path as South Africa went about trying to secure a 3-0 series whitewash by following up a first-innings score of 426 with four top-order wickets before the close of the second day but Nuwan Pradeep's ferocious four-wicket burst at least gave Sri Lanka something for their tour diary as the Wanderers lived up to its billing as one of the premier arenas for fast bowling.

South Africa maintained a grip on the match despite losing their last seven wickets for 88, with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada picking up a brace apiece to take their combined tally in the series to 31 at 15.03. Bad light brought an early close to the evening session, with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal having battled through several overs of insistent probing as the clouds closed in above the ground. Sri Lanka's hopes of respectability will lie with their two senior batsmen.

They needed their top order to show steady heads after Pradeep and his whirling limbs had brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by taking 4 for 1 in 18 balls before lunch but Philander reinforced South African conviction that they had established a match-defining position with his first over with the new ball. Dimuth Karunaratne survived a review for caught behind to his third delivery but made certain of his fate two balls later when some seam movement from Philander's immaculate line drew a clearly discernible edge to Quinton de Kock.

Kaushal Silva and Kusal Mendis survived the odd streaky moment to reach tea but both fell soon after to Rabada. Another thin edge behind did for Silva to end a 47-run stand before Mendis, who struck six fours and a six and also saw the debutant Duanne Olivier put down a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance during a lively knock, was chiselled out by Rabada's bouncer, a simple catch lobbing off the gloves to gully. In the next over, Dhananjaya de Silva speared a drive point as Sri Lanka subsided to 70 for 4.

Success for the home quicks was not unexpected after Pradeep had gambolled in to cause havoc during the morning. South Africa's position was already bulwarked by the 292-run stand between JP Duminy and Hashim Amla but any hopes they had of batting on at their leisure disappeared amid a clatter of wickets in the second hour.

De Kock was the only South Africa batsman to make a notable contribution to the scorecard after the two first-day centurions and he was last man out as the persevering Lahiru Kumara also finished with four wickets. Following a slide of 4 for 14, with Pradeep on the rampage, De Kock's 34 helped swell the total to still-daunting proportions: only once in home Tests have South Africa lost after making 400 in the first innings.

The sight of the ball seaming, swinging and flying through with a hungry cordon awaiting was double-edged for Sri Lanka, foreshadowing as it did another searching examination for their batsmen. The first session was nevertheless one to savour for the tourists, arguably their best during a difficult series, as Pradeep's interventions caused South Africa to tumble from 364 for 4 to 378 for 8 in a rambunctious 30-minute period of play.

South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis - who was hit several times during his stay at the crease - may have spent lunch reflecting with satisfaction on his decision to get runs on the board first. This surface looked like only getting more treacherous to bat on.

Even if the odds were stacked against Sri Lanka, after a dispiriting first day in which South Africa made 338 for 3, Suranga Lakmal and Mathews began with just the sort of tight, probing spells needed if they were to wrest the match back their way. Amla and the debutant nightwatchman, Olivier, had added just eight to the total in as many overs, during which ball regularly beat bat, when Mathews finally made an incision, with the aid of DRS. Olivier pushed at a rising ball in the channel and tickled a fine edge to Chandimal.

The first hour was a cagey affair, as Amla attempted to retrench himself after marking his 100th Test with a revivifying hundred. Only 26 runs came, Olivier went and it could have been even better for Sri Lanka but for Mendis making an awful hash of taking a thick edge from du Plessis that looped to second slip, only to squirm from his grasp inches above the ground.

Lakmal was the unlucky bowler on that occasion and figures of 7-4-9-0 were scant reward for a spell of controlled away swing. Pradeep had no such complaints, however. In humid conditions and with the pitch having seemingly quickened up overnight, he proceeded to rip through South Africa's middle order.

Du Plessis, who had been worked over by several blows to the body, enjoyed a let-off on 1 but was taken at the second time of asking by Mendis when Pradeep had him fending at a back-of-a-length delivery. Two balls later, Temba Bavuma reached for an ill-advised drive only to see Silva snap up a sharp, overhead chance at third slip, extending a poor series for South Africa's No. 6.

There was more to come, too, as Pradeep feasted on the Bullring's famed pace and bounce. Amla was squared up by a beauty and Chandimal threw himself bodily to his right to cling on one-handed in front of slip; then Philander, having successfully reviewed a caught-behind off Kumara when his glove came off the handle, was removed by an absolute snorter that leapt from a length to take his thumb before settling in Chandimal's gauntlets once again.


De Kock and Wayne Parnell chanced their arm to good effect in adding 46 for the ninth wicket to stave off a complete collapse and take South Africa past 400. Pradeep was denied a maiden Test five-for when Karunaratne, the lone slip, could not hold on to diving chance to his left with Parnell on 21 but he was dismissed in the following over when he carved a square drive off Kumara straight to deep point. De Kock then fell in similar fashion two overs later, slicing a cut with only Rabada for company.


Day 3

South Africa 426
Sri Lanka 131 & 177 (42.3 ov) (f/o)

South Africa won by an innings and 118 runs

Sixteen wickets, 228 runs, 59.3 overs. South Africa's pace attack delivered a swift and brutal dismemberment to seal victory at the Wanderers inside three days and confirm a 3-0 sweep in the series. Sri Lanka only managed one half-century in the match - although that was an improvement on the second Test - and could not even last long enough for the possibility of a Johannesburg thunderstorm to provide a stay of execution.

Faf du Plessis had hesitated to enforce the follow-on in Cape Town but showed no search mercy as the Bullring bayed for blood. Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander started the job, Wayne Parnell and the debutant Duanne Olivier took sadistic pleasure in twisting the knife. Parnell finished with six wickets in the match and Olivier five, heartening performances for South African cricket after a week spent in the shadow of Kolpak.

Having capitulated in the morning session to concede a 295-run deficit, Sri Lanka lost a wicket in the second over of their second attempt and needed Dimuth Karunaratne's 50, as well as some lost-cause humpty for the eighth wicket, to prevent total humiliation. Karunaratne, having avoided a pair, survived being dropped on 16 to record his highest score of the series but there was little resistance forthcoming from elsewhere.

South Africa's bowlers gave an exhibition in how to hunt tentative prey on a fast pitch but some of the catching was just as spectacular. They saved their best efforts in the field for Sri Lanka's captain, Angelo Mathews, who was dismissed twice in the day. Quinton de Kock had produced a pearler in the first innings but du Plessis surpassed him with another one-handed effort (without the aid of gloves) at second slip, from a fierce, top-edged hack by Mathews, leaping to take the ball high above his head before landing on his knees and roaring like a gladiator over a vanquished opponent.

When Rabada burst through to rattle Karunaratne's stumps shortly before tea - which was put back to make up for time lost on day two - the end was in sight. Suranga Lakmal proceeded to thrash 31 off 26 during a 43-run frolic with Upul Tharanga to take Sri Lanka past their first-innings 131 but another brilliant running catch from JP Duminy ended the fun as Parnell and Olivier shared the last three wickets without conceding a run to seal a hefty innings win.

Rabada had been held back until second change in the first innings but this time du Plessis gave the crowd what they wanted. His opening salvo was a beast of a delivery: Kaushal Silva reacted as if bitten by a cobra but could not remove his glove in time as the ball reared at him from a length.

Kusal Mendis almost suffered the same fate to his first ball and also edged short of first slip but Sri Lanka made it to lunch one down. Rabada beat Mendis with the regularity of a sheet-metal worker as the close catchers prowled and supporters on the grass banks hooted encouragement; Mendis responded by shifting his stance on to leg stump and trying to come down the pitch to Philander. It was a high-wire act and, after striking five boundaries, Mendis chopped an inswinging delivery from Parnell into the top of off stump.

Parnell ought to have had the wicket of Karunaratne earlier in the over but Dean Elgar could not hold a low edge going two-handed to his right from third slip. The second-wicket stand did yield 37 runs but Sri Lanka were trying to construct a cardboard fort in a howling Highveld gale, as Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal both fell providing catching practice to the slips.

During the morning session, South Africa claimed the six wickets they required to make Sri Lanka bat again in just 17 overs. With a lively Wanderers surface at their disposal, Du Plessis judged correctly that his attack had enough left in the tank, having lost some 25 overs on the second evening and with the possibility of rain returning at some point.

It had threatened to be a carve up from the moment South Africa had the ball in hand and, without the bad weather to delay them, the bowlers were quickly back into their work. In his second over of the morning, Philander moved the ball seductively away from Chandimal to graze the outside edge and provide a catch for de Kock.

Mathews fell to the same manner of dismissal - at least as far as the scorecard was concerned. He had already successfully reviewed Bruce Oxenford's lbw decision off Philander, saved by a thin inside edge with height also in question, when he fended at a rapid delivery from Rabada that held its line outside off. The edge may have been travelling straight to Hashim Amla at first slip but de Kock got there first, intercepting one-handed at full stretch, a magnificent catch even if it didn't quite stick cleanly in the glove at the first attempt.

Sri Lanka had raised three figures by that point but would not get much further. Olivier claimed his first Test wicket with a venomous bouncer that Rangana Herath could only dolly to square leg via an awkward contortion and a brief flurry of blows from Tharanga could not delay the inevitable.


Lakmal chipped Parnell lackadaisically to extra cover and Olivier then achieved some extra bounce from a length to take the shoulder of the bat and extract Tharanga. Nuwan Pradeep was the last to fall, popping a catch back to the bowler; Parnell adjudged to have taken the ball just above the turf after several replays for the third umpire. A few hours later he was celebrating finishing off the Sri Lanka innings for a second time.