Day 4
Sri Lanka 338 (Dhananjaya 60, Gunathilaka 57, Maharaj 9-129) & 275 for 5 decl (Karunaratne 85, Mathews 71, Maharaj 3-154) beat South Africa 124 (du Plessis 48, Dananjaya 5-52, Dilruwan 4-40) & 290 (de Bruyn 101, Bavuma 63, Herath 6-98) by 199 runs
Theunis de Bruyn scored his first Test century, in his sixth match, to make Sri Lanka work for their series win. But he could not prevent the inevitable. The hosts wrapped up victory 40 minutes after lunch on the fourth day, to seal the series 2-0.
Sri Lanka's spinners took all 20 wickets in the match, and 37 of South Africa's 40 wickets in the series. Dilruwan Perera finished as the joint leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps, level with Keshav Maharaj, South Africa's other standout performer from the second Test. Rangana Herath, playing in his penultimate series most likely, took 12 wickets across the two matches, including a second-innings six-for in Colombo, his 12th five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a match.
Herath accounted for both South Africa's main resistors on the fourth day - de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma. The pair shared South Africa's first century stand of the series, and became the only two players in their line-up to bring up fifties on the tour. Their 123-run stand is the highest by a South African pair in the fourth innings of a match in Asia. It took the Test into an 11th session, but South Africa still lost inside four days.
On the evidence of South Africa's previous three innings, Sri Lanka would have been justified in thinking they would take the remaining five wickets quickly on the fourth morning, but they were made to wait until 10 minutes before lunch for a breakthrough. De Bruyn and Bavuma were confident on the sweep shot and forced Sri Lanka to look further than their three main spinners, with Suranga Lakmal having his first bowl of the match in the 55th over, and Dhananjaya de Silva and Danushka Gunathilaka both turning their arms over.
De Bruyn showed, for the first time at international level, why he is much lauded in the domestic franchise game and may have made a strong case to be persisted with at No. 3 with a display of strong temperament and impressive strokeplay. Bavuma, who is often criticised for his slow scoring rate, took a much more positive approach and scored his 63 runs in 98 balls, a strike rate of almost 65.
Their morning was not without its nerves. Dilruwan reviewed for a catch at short leg when Bavuma was on 20 but Ultra Edge showed there was no contact between bat and ball, as the delivery turned down leg and Sri Lanka lost their first review. De Bruyn almost sent a Herath delivery into the hands of Angelo Mathews at slip but the next ball he faced, he punched through the covers to bring up his maiden Test fifty, in 118 balls.
Both batsmen grew in confidence as the session went on, despite the number of times Sri Lanka's bowlers seemed to have the better of them. Herath beat Bavuma on the front foot often but the batsman bisected square leg and fine leg to send a Herath delivery to the boundary; Herath also drew a leading edge from de Bruyn that fell safe but de Bruyn established authority with shots like the pull off Lakmal to square leg. Bavuma's half-century came off 69 balls, and he may have been eyeing a long-overdue second Test hundred but, with lunch looming, pushed forward to a Herath delivery and was caught behind.
Quinton de Kock opened his account with a reverse-sweep, which suggested his time in the middle could be fun, but it ended on the stroke of lunch. De Kock was given out lbw to a Herath delivery and the batsman reviewed. Replays showed "umpires call" on leg stump to end a disappointing tour for de Kock, who scored 53 runs in four innings.
De Bruyn may have been concerned about running out of partners as his hundred approached but Kagiso Rabada negotiated the second new ball well to stay with him for an eighth-wicket stand of 34. Rabada even showed off his own prowess, with a thunderous six over Herath's head. De Bruyn brought up his century off 228 balls with a paddle to fine leg and was dismised four balls later, leaving an arm ball, to give Herath his fifth.
Three balls later, Rabada edged Dilruwan to first slip and in the next over, Steyn smacked Herath for six and then tried to slog him over the top but only got the toe end of his bat and was caught at long-on. Herath's six-for was not enough to earn him the Man-of-the-Match award, which went to Dimuth Karunaratne, who was also named Man of the Series. Karunaratne scored 356 runs in the series, more than double his nearest competitor, opening partner Gunathilaka, who racked up 161. South Africa's top-scorer was fourth on the list - Faf du Plessis with 105 runs.
Day 1
SL 277/9
SA
Danushka Gunathilaka and Dimuth Karunaratne, put on the first century stand for the opening pair since October 2016 , and the first at home since 2010. Both went on to score half-centuries. Dhananjaya de Silva joined them with the milestone but none of the three pushed on to three figures, and no-one in the middle-order made more than 22.
Sri Lanka lost 3 for 37 after their first-wicket stand and 5 for 41 later in the day, and may not get to 300. But with three spinners in their attack, they will believe their total is worth much more.
South Africa have armed themselves with an extra batsman to prepare for the challenge, leaving out the second specialist spinner, a selection which threatened to backfire on them when the seamers failed to make inroads.
Dale Steyn's wait to overtake Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading wicket-taker continues. Steyn bowled 15 overs but caused few problems, fewer than Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi, who was selected ahead of Vernon Philander for this Test. Of the three, Rabada was the stand out, putting in the most work and enjoying some reward, when he claimed the only other wicket in the day.
Day 2
Sri Lanka 338 all out & 151/3 (34.0 overs)
South Africa 124 all out
Sri Lanka lead South Africa by 365 runs with 7 wickets remaining
South Africa 124 all out
Sri Lanka lead South Africa by 365 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Think Galle, and now think of how things could have become more galling for South Africa. That's what happened on the second day at the SSC, where Sri Lanka took significant strides towards a series win.
South Africa succumbed to their second-lowest total in Sri Lanka, a mere seven days after they had slumped to their lowest on the island, to concede a first-innings lead of 214 runs. Sri Lanka's spinners ripped through them for a third time, with Akila Dananjaya picking up his second five-wicket haul in his third Test. Akila had a day to remember, after also notching up a career-best undefeated 43 to help Sri Lanka swell their first-innings total to 338.
Already that seems like enough, but with three days left in the match, Sri Lanka will look to pile it on, having chosen not to enforce the follow-on, against a wearing attack. Dale Steyn remains a wicket away from overtaking Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading Test bowler, but delivered four overs without success, bowling third change. Lungi Ngidi, who left the field in Sri Lanka's first innings after being pinged on the shin when he dropped a return catch offered by Akila in his follow-through, returned during the second innings but only bowled fourth change, forcing Faf du Plessis to use part-timers Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn. Kagiso Rabada shared the new ball with Keshav Maharaj, the only bowler to make some incisions.
Maharaj's first innings nine-for surpassed Allan Donald's 8 for 71 in Harare in 1995 as the best figures by a South African bowler away from home and second-best figures by a South African in an innings, anywhere. He picked up two second-innings wickets, putting him just two behind Makhaya Ntini's 13 scalps, the most in a match by a South African, but his efforts are unlikely to save South Africa.
So far in this series, the visiting batsmen have lasted 54.3, 28.5 and 34.5 overs - a total of 118.1 overs - the equivalent of under four sessions in three innings. They have scored fewer runs in total, 323 in three innings, than Sri Lanka's top-scorer Dimuth Karunaratne, who is unbeaten on 59, with 329 runs in the series and counting.
South Africa's approach against spin continues to be muddled and they have failed to answer the most pressing questions about batting on the subcontinent. Should they play for the turn, or not? Should they sweep, or not? Should they defend, or not?
Some of them, clearly, cannot trust their defence. Like Dean Elgar. He blocked the first three balls he faced, from Dilruwan Perera, and then went forward to dead-bat a fourth but Akila got the ball to dip, spin away and take the edge. Dhananjaya de Silva took a good, low catch at second slip.
Others are unsure what the ball is doing out of the hand. Like Theunis de Bruyn, who was included as a seventh specialist batsman and moved to No.3. He played for turn to an Akila ball that went on straight and was caught behind. Or Aiden Markram. He was trapped lbw, also playing for turn against Rangana Herath.
Sri Lanka's veteran only took one wicket in South Africa's first innings, though he could have had two, Hashim Amla dropped off him when he drove to short cover only for Danushka Gunathilaka to fluff the chance. Instead, Amla became only the third South African to reach 9,000 Test runs. That number will receive its dues in years to come. For now, South Africa need him to play like a man with 9,000 runs to his name and that did not happen.
Amla showed some signs of regaining form in a 55-run stand with du Plessis which was also the second-highest partnership South Africa have posted all series, but it was du Plessis who looked in control. The captain showed intent immediately after lunch when he struck five boundaries in six balls, and needed support. Amla could not provide it when he inside-edged onto his pad to offer short leg a catch and start the procession.
Then the sweep came into play. Du Plessis prospered and perished by the shot, eventually bottom-edging a Dilruwan delivery that was confirmed to have made contact with the bat on review. Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock were both confident on the sweep, but by then, South Africa's troubles were too deep.
Bavuma chipped a catch to short leg, Maharaj top-edged a sweep to square leg and de Kock was pinned on the front pad to give Akila his fifth.
After all that, South Africa had to take the field again and looked as though they wanted to be anywhere but in Colombo. A flat first 18 overs allowed Sri Lanka's openers to race to 91 without loss, with Gunathilaka scoring a second half-century in the Test before holing out to deep midwicket. In his next over, Maharaj successfully reviewed an lbw appeal against de Silva and the only other wicket fell when Kusal Mendis was run out. Karunaratne remains in control and with Elgar extracting sharp turn in the final over of the day, it seems only one result can be achieved.
Day 3
South Africa succumbed to their second-lowest total in Sri Lanka, a mere seven days after they had slumped to their lowest on the island, to concede a first-innings lead of 214 runs. Sri Lanka's spinners ripped through them for a third time, with Akila Dananjaya picking up his second five-wicket haul in his third Test. Akila had a day to remember, after also notching up a career-best undefeated 43 to help Sri Lanka swell their first-innings total to 338.
Already that seems like enough, but with three days left in the match, Sri Lanka will look to pile it on, having chosen not to enforce the follow-on, against a wearing attack. Dale Steyn remains a wicket away from overtaking Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading Test bowler, but delivered four overs without success, bowling third change. Lungi Ngidi, who left the field in Sri Lanka's first innings after being pinged on the shin when he dropped a return catch offered by Akila in his follow-through, returned during the second innings but only bowled fourth change, forcing Faf du Plessis to use part-timers Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn. Kagiso Rabada shared the new ball with Keshav Maharaj, the only bowler to make some incisions.
Maharaj's first innings nine-for surpassed Allan Donald's 8 for 71 in Harare in 1995 as the best figures by a South African bowler away from home and second-best figures by a South African in an innings, anywhere. He picked up two second-innings wickets, putting him just two behind Makhaya Ntini's 13 scalps, the most in a match by a South African, but his efforts are unlikely to save South Africa.
So far in this series, the visiting batsmen have lasted 54.3, 28.5 and 34.5 overs - a total of 118.1 overs - the equivalent of under four sessions in three innings. They have scored fewer runs in total, 323 in three innings, than Sri Lanka's top-scorer Dimuth Karunaratne, who is unbeaten on 59, with 329 runs in the series and counting.
South Africa's approach against spin continues to be muddled and they have failed to answer the most pressing questions about batting on the subcontinent. Should they play for the turn, or not? Should they sweep, or not? Should they defend, or not?
Some of them, clearly, cannot trust their defence. Like Dean Elgar. He blocked the first three balls he faced, from Dilruwan Perera, and then went forward to dead-bat a fourth but Akila got the ball to dip, spin away and take the edge. Dhananjaya de Silva took a good, low catch at second slip.
Others are unsure what the ball is doing out of the hand. Like Theunis de Bruyn, who was included as a seventh specialist batsman and moved to No.3. He played for turn to an Akila ball that went on straight and was caught behind. Or Aiden Markram. He was trapped lbw, also playing for turn against Rangana Herath.
Sri Lanka's veteran only took one wicket in South Africa's first innings, though he could have had two, Hashim Amla dropped off him when he drove to short cover only for Danushka Gunathilaka to fluff the chance. Instead, Amla became only the third South African to reach 9,000 Test runs. That number will receive its dues in years to come. For now, South Africa need him to play like a man with 9,000 runs to his name and that did not happen.
Amla showed some signs of regaining form in a 55-run stand with du Plessis which was also the second-highest partnership South Africa have posted all series, but it was du Plessis who looked in control. The captain showed intent immediately after lunch when he struck five boundaries in six balls, and needed support. Amla could not provide it when he inside-edged onto his pad to offer short leg a catch and start the procession.
Then the sweep came into play. Du Plessis prospered and perished by the shot, eventually bottom-edging a Dilruwan delivery that was confirmed to have made contact with the bat on review. Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock were both confident on the sweep, but by then, South Africa's troubles were too deep.
Bavuma chipped a catch to short leg, Maharaj top-edged a sweep to square leg and de Kock was pinned on the front pad to give Akila his fifth.
After all that, South Africa had to take the field again and looked as though they wanted to be anywhere but in Colombo. A flat first 18 overs allowed Sri Lanka's openers to race to 91 without loss, with Gunathilaka scoring a second half-century in the Test before holing out to deep midwicket. In his next over, Maharaj successfully reviewed an lbw appeal against de Silva and the only other wicket fell when Kusal Mendis was run out. Karunaratne remains in control and with Elgar extracting sharp turn in the final over of the day, it seems only one result can be achieved.
Day 3
SL 338 and 275/5d
SA 124 and 139/5
SA need another 351 runs to win
South Africa dragged the second Test into a fourth day with their best batting performance of the series against a sloppy and frustrated Sri Lankan attack. The hosts squandered four clear chances and had three unsuccessful reviews (all on umpire's call which allowed Sri Lanka to retain their reviews) which could have seen them well into South Africa's lower order. Instead, they gave the home crowd reason to return on Monday, when Sri Lanka will go in search of the remaining five wickets.
Theunis de Bruyn gave the best account of himself as a international cricketer in his short career and remained unbeaten on 45. He also featured in South Africa's highest partnership in the match, 57 runs for the second wicket with Dean Elgar, who made his top score of the series - a dogged 37.
Elgar's innings was incident-filled and he was let off three times, with Dilruwan Pereratainting his 36th birthday by being the culprit on each occasion. First, Dilruwan dropped a catch when Elgar top-edged a sweep off Rangana Herath in the third over. Dilruwan, running from square leg, settled under the ball but could not hold on to it. Then, Dilruwan overstepped after bowling Elgar on 6. Elgar had swept against the slider and missed. Dilruwan didn't get his front foot back and bowled two more no-balls, one in the third session which had Elgar caught behind on 23. Elgar had left the field but was called back and added 14 runs to his score before Dilruwan finally had him out lbw, going back to the arm ball.
In between, Mathews dropped Markram at slip, off Rangana Herath. Herath only had to wait until his next over to trap Markram lbw. The opener missed an attempted sweep and gave Sri Lanka their first inroad.
But Sri Lanka and Dilruwan had more to rue when two reviews didn't go their way, which could have dismissed de Bruyn before he settled. Though de Bruyn swept confidently from the start of his innings, his defences looked suspect. Dilruwan beat his outside edge and reviewed for lbw off two consecutive deliveries. Both times the deliveries pitched in line and struck de Bruyn on the back foot with the impact in line with the stumps but both times Umpire Rod Tucker's on-field decision was not out. Both times ball-tracking showed umpires call on off stump, giving de Bruyn second and third chances to make a name for himself. And he took them. He is only five runs away from his first Test fifty and he has showed the kind of patience his seniors have lacked.
Hashim Amla's lean year showed no signs of stopping. Sri Lanka reviewed an lbw appeal against him when Akila caught him on the pad as he looked to sweep but the batsman had shuffled across enough to get outside the line. He was on 4 at the time, and added only two runs before being bowled by Herath. Faf du Plessis became the only South African batsman to cross 100 runs in the series when he added seven runs to the 98 he had scored in his three previous innings. His innings, however, ended when was caught at slip off an Akila wrong'un.
With his next ball, Akila had nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj out lbw, also with a googly, but he could not complete the hat-trick. Temba Bavuma was unintimidated by a close-in field and a topspinner and went on to produce a sprightly knock that he will want to build on. That's all South Africa's middle and lower order can aim for, in the face of a mammoth target.
Earlier, Sri Lanka batted until an hour into the lunch session and declared with a lead of 489 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne took his personal tally in the two-Test series to 356 runs and fell 15 runs short of a second century. After hours of concentration, he chased a Lungi Ngidi length ball and edged it to Quinton de Kock. He shared a 63-run stand with Angelo Mathews, who returned to form with his first score over fifty since December 2017. Mathews also put on 64 with Roshen Silva to frustrate a wearing South African attack.
Day 4
1st Test
Sri Lanka 287 & 190
South Africa 126 & 73 (28.5 ov, target 352)
Sri Lanka won by 278 runs
Sri Lanka's spinners shot South Africa out for 73, their lowest total since readmission and lowest in Sri Lanka, just a day after their previous lowest in the country - 126 - to condemn them to one of their worst defeats in the subcontinent and leave them with no chance of a series win.
Offspinner Dilruwan Perera finished with his best match figures of 10 for 78 after taking 6 for 32 in the second innings while Rangana Herath leapt to ninth on the all-time wicket-takers' list with his 3 for 38.
Herath surpassed Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn in this match. Steyn has been chasing Pollock's record of 421 wickets to become South Africa's leading Test wicket-taker and drew level in this match. That will serve as scant consolation for South Africa, whose line-up has serious questions to answer about their shot selection and temperament.
South Africa have never faced fewer overs in Asia than they did in this innings. Only three of their batsmen got into double figures and only one, No. 7 Vernon Philander, scored more than 20. They lost wickets at intervals of between five and nine minutes between lunch and tea and lost the game inside eight sessions. Dimuth Karunaratne on his own scored more runs - 218 - than South Africa over both innings - 199.
Despite forcing a collapse that saw Sri Lanka lose 6 for 73 on the third morning, South Africa were facing a mammoth task after conceding a first-innings deficit of 161 runs. They were set 352 to win, which required them to pull off the joint third-highest successful chase on the island against an attack they have been unable to decipher.
Some tried to attack, like Dean Elgar, who ran down the track in an attempt to loft Dilruwan down the ground and was stumped, others to defend, like Hashim Amla, who was drawn forward and popped up a catch to leg gully, and Temba Bavuma, who inside-edged to leg gully to a Dilruwan delivery that ripped in sharply. Elgar's 50th Test only yielded 12 runs, Amla's second-innings duck was the 12th of his career and Bavuma has yet to show what he can do after being promoted to No.4.
Faf du Plessis was the only one of the top six who showed some staying power in the first innings but he became Herath's first second-innings' victim when he offered a catch to slip. Du Plessis was unable to get to the pitch of the ball, as was Aiden Markram, who jumped out of his crease to a Herath delivery that was dangled outside off, and was stumped. When Quinton de Kock missed his sweep and was given out lbw, South Africa had lost their top six for just 36 runs.
Dilruwan's five-for came when Keshav Maharaj swung and found deep midwicket. He went one better and took his sixth when he set Kagiso Rabada up with one that turned away sharply and followed up with one that went straight on, from around the wicket, to bowl him as he shouldered arms. Dale Steyn handed Herath a return catch and South Africa's misery ended when Lakshan Sandakan, who was only brought on in the 29th over, trapped Tabraiz Shamsi on the back pad.
Though the Galle surface offered turn and bounce and the Sri Lankan spinners were a handful with the new, hard ball, South Africa were also responsible for their own malaise. Their struggles in reading turn and flight, and their impatience, undid them and they will have five days to rethink their strategies ahead of a must-win second Test.
South Africa may even have to address team selection. Philander, for all his resistance with the bat, only bowled 11 overs in the match, and may have to make way for another batsman, Theunis de Bruyn, or a different style of fast bowler, Lungi Ngidi. The only positives for South Africa came from the rest of their attack. After a wicketless first innings, Maharaj took four in the second while Rabada's ability on pitches that offer very little to the quicks was impressive.
Rabada gave South Africa a chance to compete on the third day, first when he fortuitously deflected a ball onto the non-striker's stumps in his follow-through, to run out Roshen Silva, and then with two wickets in three balls, which also brought up 150 in Tests. Rabada is not the quickest to reach the landmark - Sydney Barnes did it in 24 matches - but he is in the top dozen.
For Sri Lanka, there is only cause to celebrate (and perhaps for some of the batsmen to consider how they can emulate Karunaratne). Playing without their captain, Dinesh Chandimal, and coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, who will sit out the series as they await the verdict of their code-of-conduct hearing, Sri Lanka imposed themselves on a team that beat them convincingly just 18 months ago, in South Africa, and won their last series in Sri Lanka. And now, they are only a draw away from a series win.
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