Tea Sri Lanka 131 (Philander 3-28, Rabada 3-44) and 124 for 6 (Tharanga 9*, Herath 6*) trail South Africa 426 by 171 runs
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Faf du Plessis took a world-class slip catch to remove Angelo Mathews for 10 © Gallo Images
South Africa advanced determinedly towards a 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka after enforcing the follow-on in Johannesburg. Dimuth Karunaratne’s half-century ensured that Sri Lanka would not fold without putting up something of a fight but they reached tea six wickets down and still 171 runs adrift, staring at a three-day defeat.
Duanne Olivier took his tally of wickets to four in his maiden Test, while Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell and Vernon Philander all chipped in. 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. 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 appeared to be in sight.
Sent in again facing a 295-run deficit, Sri Lanka lost a wicket straight away. Rabada had been held back until second change in the first innings but this time Faf 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 in his 24, Mendis chopped an inswinging delivery from Parnell into the top of off stump.
Parnell ought to have had a wicket earlier in the over but Dean Elgar could not hold a low Karunaratne 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. Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal both fell providing catching practice to the slips.
South Africa saved their best efforts in the field for Sri Lanka’s captain. Angelo Mathews was dismissed twice in the day, both times by exhibition-worthy catches. 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.
During the morning session, South Africa claimed the six wickets they required to make Sri Lanka bat again in just 17 overs. In Cape Town, South Africa chose not to enforce the follow on with a similarly substantial lead but, on a more lively Wanderers surface, du Plessis was confident that his attack had enough in the tank. Having lost some 25 overs on the second evening and with the possibility of rain returning at some point, it was a pragmatic call.
Sri Lanka’s first innings featured only two partnerships of 20 or more and only two batsman making as many individually. Upul Tharanga landed a few blows but South Africa soaked them up without too much discomfort before Olivier and Parnell docked the tail with three wickets in ten balls.
It had threatened to be a carve up from the moment South Africa had the ball in hand and, without the weather to delay them, the bowlers were quickly back into their work. In his second over of the morning, Vernon Philander moved the ball seductively away from Dinesh Chandimal to graze the outside edge and provide a catch for Quinton de Kock.
Mathews fell to the same manner of dismissal – at least as far as the scorecard was concerned. Mathews 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 beyond their first-innings tally of 110 in Cape Town. 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 from Tharanga and Suranga Lakmal could not delay the inevitable.
Lakmal struck one assertive pull for four before chipping 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.
Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo