Proteas wilt on a dry Sri Lankan pitch
Bavuma-De Bruyn partnership all in vain
They put us under pressure for long periods and we made mistakes
Colombo - Sri Lanka yesterday completed a 2-0 test sweep of South Africa to record their first series win over the Proteas since 2006 after Rangana Herath wreaked havoc with six wickets.
The visitors were all out for 290 in the second session of day four in Colombo, 200 runs short of the highly improbable winning target of 490 on a bone-dry wicket.
It was South Africa’s first test whitewash since they went down in the island nation 2-0 in a two-match series almost 12 years ago.
Sri Lanka wrapped up the first Test in Galle within three days, reducing SA to 73 in the second innings – their lowest Test total since the nation’s post-apartheid readmission to international cricket.
“Right through the series we didn’t have that ability to score partnerships. I think we only had three partnerships of 50 and above the whole series,” Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s skipper, said yesterday. “But once again you have to give credit to the opposition. They were able to put us under pressure for long periods of time and therefore we made a lot of mistakes.”
In the second test, Sri Lanka scored 338 in their first innings and South Africa could only respond with 124 as versatile off-spinner Akila Dananjaya made hay, taking five wickets. The hosts then scored 275 for five before declaring on day three, setting the visitors the high victory target.
SA were already five wickets down for 139 at stumps on Sunday, with Dananjaya dismissing Du Plessis for seven and leftarm spinner Herath getting Hashim Amla for six. The South African wickets fell despite a comedy of errors from Sri Lanka, who dropped two catches, wasted both their reviews – on successive balls – and could have had Dean Elgar out twice beforehand had Perera not overstepped.
Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma kept the Sri Lankan spinners at bay for most of the first session yesterday, putting on a valiant sixth-wicket stand of 123. Bavuma’s resistance ended when he was caught behind off Herath for 63.
The two teams will now head into the limited-overs series with the first of the five one-day internationals scheduled for Sunday in Dambulla.