By Brian Thomas.
The pitch on day 4 of a test match in South Africa could be challenging to any subcontinent team, given the fact that cracks do appear due to wear and tare, especially with the home team that can exploit the conditions with their unique seam cordon.
The visible issue at hand for Sri Lanka was the loss of 5 wickets for 105 runs and the challenging target of 516 runs, which is far fetched to a side bowled out for just 42 runs in their first innings.
The visible point at hand was the prominent crack around the off stump that Kagosco Rabada will exploit was a concern, no doubt.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal, after a few anxious moments up front settled in to play some exquisite cricket strokes that made the South Africans wilt under pressure for the first time in this test match.
Sri Lankan batters Chandimal and DDS won a mini battle when South African skipper Temba Bavuma called for aid by introducing Keshav Mahraj into the attack with his left arm orthodox spin.
The Sri Lankan duo played exceptionally well, leaving the ball outside their playing zone and trusting the bounce on the pitch, which looked easy to hat on.
The pair stiched a 95-run partnership with both batters recording half centuries until DDS , batting of 59, gave his grit away that too just before the mid break for lunch , trying to work the ball on his back foot to a Mahraj short delivery that hung on the pitch, basically mis timing his stroke to be caught by Stubbs at mid wicket with the score on 196.
The South Africans breathed a sigh of relief to see the back of the Sri Lankan captain who looked composed whilst executing an array of strokes by middling the ball.
Kusal Mendis joined Dinesh Chandimal, and the pair took lunch with Sri Lanka on 220 for 6 wickets showing great signs of the skill levels the Lankan batters have on predictable easy paced pitches.
Mendis batting with authority supported Chandimal in stiching another partnership of 75 valuable runs for the 7th wicket.
It is fair to state that Dinesh Chandimal batting on 83 and looking for a three figure score was dismissed during the run of play when he closed his bat too early off a Gerald Coetzee short delivery only to be caught and bowled by the well built seamer on his follow through with the visitors smelling an early end to the game on 271 for 7 wickets with on Kusal Mendis as the recognised batter and the bowlers to follow , and the new ball due in less than 3 overs.
Vishwa Fernando , who battled it out with Kusal Janith Perera in that historic win the last time these two teams met at this venue was undone lunging at a Keshav Mahraj delivery only to be caught by Aiden Markram at first slip for just 1 run and the visitors slumped to 8 wickets for 272 runs the writing on the wall was as clear as the leopard spots on the pitch created by the South African fast bowlers.
Sadly, Kusal Mendis fell 2 runs short of a well-deserved half-century when Man of the Match Marco Jansen had him caught by the Wicket keeper as he held his willow out at a 4th stump delivery and was out fir 48 with Sri Lanka on 276 for 9 wickets.
With only 2 balls left for the introduction of the second new ball, Asitha Fernando was bowled off a leg stump yorker by Marco Jansen, giving the left arm seamer his 4th wicket
Sri Lanka bowled out for 282 runs , no doubt a much better batting performance, which will drive a sense of confidence for their batters on how to negate the South African fast bowlers in the next test to follow.
Sri Lanka, obviously, will want to bat with more responsibility in the next game. Bowlers, by now, have learnt that in South African conditions, you need to bowl a fuller length as opposed to subcontinent conditions in which the back of a length is the way forward.
No doubt these areas will be discussed at length during the team meetings.
South Africa will obviously want to win the second test by preparing a green top . They also have 2 home test against Pakistan. If they win the Pakistan, test by two games to nil , their road to Lords in the summer of 2025 for the WTC final us inevitable.
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