Ongama Gcwabe at Kingsmead
South Africa first innings 191 (Temba Bavuma 70; Asitha Fernando 3/44)
Sri Lanka first innings 42 (Kamindu Mendis 13; Marco Jansen 7/13)
SA second innings 132/3 (Aiden Markram 47; Prabath Jayasuriya 2/48)
DURBAN: After Marco Jansen’s seven-wicket histrionics, South Africa dug themselves out of a hole on the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead on Thursday to secure a 281-run lead going into ‘Moving Day’.
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma (24 not out) and Tristan Stubbs (17 not out) guided SA to safety after Aiden Markram (47) and Tony de Zorzi (17) redeemed their first-innings shortcomings.
However, it was an outstanding performance from the fast bowlers that gave South Africa the upper hand in the contest, with Jansen’s career-best 7/13 resulting in the Sri Lankans being bowled out for just 42.
Leader of the attack, Kagiso Rabada, blazed the trail for the rest of the SA bowlers to follow as the 29-year-old got the better of the gritty Dimuth Karunaratne (two) in the third over of the Sri Lanka innings.
Bowling around the wicket to the left-handed batter, Rabada’s delivery moved away just enough to take the outside edge, and David Bedingham did the rest in the slip cordon.
Jansen followed suit with the wicket of opener Pathum Nissanka (three) in a similar fashion to give the hosts their second scalp of the day.
On occasion, the lanky left-arm fast bowler looked rusty, which was understandable given that he is currently playing his second Test of the year.
Jansen missed out on the Test tours to the Caribbean and Bangladesh due to the 12-week-long rehabilitation and conditioning break that he was given by the management.
With the pace that he generated and the bounce that he extracted off the wicket, the 24-year-old was a tough challenge for the sub-continent batters.
Jansen took a flurry of wickets to help South Africa bowl the visitors out for 42, the lowest Test total at Kingsmead and the lowest in Tests in South Africa since readmission.
It took Jansen 41 balls to register his figures of 7/13 and exactly 83 for South Africa to bundle out Sri Lanka, making their innings the second shortest completed innings in the 137 years of Test cricket.
The other quicks, Gerald Coetzee (2/18) and Rabada (1/10) were just as vital to South Africa’s fight-back in the second session.
Earlier, Proteas skipper Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne looked to get the team out of trouble, with the overnight score of 80/4.
However, Verreynne (nine) did not last long at the crease as his minimal foot movement saw him trapped lbw in front of the stumps by Lahiru Kumara (3/70).
To make matters worse for the hosts, the only remaining recognised batter, Wiaan Mulder, was struck on his right middle finger and had to retire hurt, leaving Bavuma to bat with the tail.
The 34-year-old played a lone hand with a classy 70 off 117 deliveries to help the hosts put on a decent 191 all out in the first innings.