Lankans slump to humiliating defeat
Fragile batting hits a new low
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Sri Lanka lost 16 wickets in a day as South Africa's fast bowlers sent them crashing to defeat by an innings and 118 runs in the third Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 131 and 177 as South Africa's four pacemen tore the batting apart handing the home side a 3-0 series whitewash.
In a dismal third day of the final Test for the tourists, Sri Lanka were able to add only 51 runs to their overnight first innings total of 80 for four and seldom looked like providing sustained resistance in the second innings, despite a fighting 50 by opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne.
Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada both took three wickets in the first innings, while new cap Duanne Olivier and left-armer Wayne Parnell took two apiece.
Parnell took four wickets in the second innings, Olivier three, Rabada two and Philander one.
Sharing the new ball with Philander in the second innings, Rabada took a wicket with his first ball when Kaushal Silva gloved a catch to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. He added the wicket of Karunaratne, who was bowled shortly before tea.
Resuming from their overnight score of 80 for 4, Sri Lanka unraveled spectacularly under overcast skies on a green tangled pitch ideal for bowlers as South African four-man pace attacked ripped through the innings in double quick time sending shivers down the Lankans who looked as if they had gone to war without guns.
The hosts needed just 17 overs to take the remaining Sri Lanka wickets to enforce the follow on, in their bid to inflict a record 3-0 whitewash against the hapless Sri Lankans.Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada finished with three wickets apiece while the support pair of Wayne Parnell and Duanne Oliver grabbing two each to humiliate the Sri Lankans who have struggled to come to any terms with South African conditions in the three-match series.
Philander removed Dinesh Chandimal (5) in his second over of the day when Chandimal edged a delivery that pitched in perfect line and swung through the air to the wicket-keeper Quintin de Kock as the Sri Lanka vice-captain continued his horror run in the series with scores of 28, 8, 4 and 30. Skipper Mathews survived on an umpire reprisal after television replays indicated a thin inside edged to the pad off Philander but no sooner he was undone by a stunning Rabada delivery as de Kock grabbed a hard flying edge in front of the first slips.
His departure exposed Sri Lanka’s long tail and it all left to the experienced Upul Tharanga to delay the inevitable. Rangana Herath became the maiden wicket of debutant Oliver when an attempted pull off a throat-hunting bouncer ended in the hands of Stephen Cook at short leg before followed by Suranga Lakmal who spooned a Parnell delivery straight to Rabada at mid-off.
Tharanga (24) then edged Oliver to be caught by Dean Elgar at slips before Parnell completed the Sri Lankan annihilation removing Nuwan Pradeep with a return catch. Earlier South Africa amassed 426 in their first innings on the back of a record third wicket partnership of 292 between JP Duminy (155) and Hashim Amla (134) who became only the eighth batsmen in the world to score a century on his 100th Test match. However the only silver lining for the tourist is the promised shown by their three men paced attacked, but the lack of batting depth has hurt Sri Lanka’s chances in the doomed series.