Innings Sri Lanka 205 (De Silva 43, Philander 5-45) trail South Africa 286 by 81 runs
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Vernon Philander picked up his 11th five-wicket haul in Test matches © AFP
It had taken Sri Lanka only 8.5 overs on the second morning to send South Africa hurtling from 267 for 6 to 286 all out. On day three, it only took 7.5 overs for South Africa to grab the last three Sri Lankan wickets and gain what could prove a decisive 81-run first-innings lead.
Vernon Philander took two of the three wickets to finish with figures of 5 for 45, while Kyle Abbott broke an irritating last-wicket stand between Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Pradeep to end with 3 for 63.
Philander struck with the very first ball of the day, shaping it away from the fourth-stump channel to induce a poke and an edge from Dhananjaya de Silva, who, on 43 overnight, had held Sri Lanka’s hopes of narrowing South Africa’s lead to manageable proportions. Five balls later, Suranga Lakmal realised he wasn’t quite to the pitch of a fullish ball to drive, checked his shot, and popped a low catch to mid-on, giving Philander his 11th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Philander and Abbott beat the edges of Chameera and Pradeep frequently, but Sri Lanka’s Nos. 9 and 11 managed to stretch their total by 20 runs along the way. There were a couple of audacious shots as well – Pradeep punched Abbott off the back foot to the point boundary, and Chameera hit Philander for a straight-bat scoop over mid-on. Eventually, having just got past the 50-ball mark, Chameera jabbed at an away-swinger from Abbott and nicked to first slip.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo