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Former captain Faf du Plessis led the batting round, hitting 199 as South Africa took a 225-run lead in the first inning.
South Africa’s Faf du Plessis celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the third day of the first test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park in Centurion on December 28, 2020. image: AFP
CENTURION – Injury-stricken cricketers from Sri Lanka took a beating from South African batsmen and bowlers on the third day of the first test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Monday.
Former captain Faf du Plessis led the batting round, hitting 199 as South Africa took a 225-run lead in the first inning.
Then fast pitcher Lungi Ngidi hit twice early in Sri Lanka’s second inning to leave the tourists scrambling at 65 for two, still 160 runs behind, on an increasingly unpredictable rebound shot.
Sri Lanka’s injury problems continued and at one stage three of their five regular pitchers were off the field as South Africa racked up a total of 621 innings in the first inning.
Kasun Rajitha, who suffered a groin injury early in innings on Sunday, did not go out on the field again and his fast bowling partner Lahiru Kumara suffered a similar injury shortly after lunch after throwing a single ball in a new period. . He didn’t come back either.
Newcomer Wanindu Hasaranga was off the field for part of the afternoon after falling on the ball trying to make a dive on the edge. But he came back to finish with four wickets, albeit at a high cost of 171 races.
Sri Lanka will face an uphill battle to avoid defeat, and batter Dhananjaya de Silva is not expected to hit after being ruled out of the series with a torn thigh.
At one point, Sri Lanka had four substitutes on the field, while captain Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis were called into action as emergency bowlers.
DU PLESSIS DOUBLE CENTURY MISSING
Du Plessis and the other South African batsmen took advantage with a display of free goals. Du Plessis achieved his highest first-class and test score and appeared to be sailing a double century before attempting to throw Hasaranga over his head and hit a single catch to Karunaratne midway.
Du Plessis shared associations of 179 for the fifth wicket with Temba Bavuma (71) and 133 for the seventh wicket with Keshav Maharaj, who did a better 73 in the test.
Bavuma’s innings ended unusually when he threw a medium-paced Dasun Shanaka ball and immediately started walking back to the locker room as the ball reached goalkeeper Niroshan Dickwella. Referee Marais Erasmus was not called to make a decision.
The repetitions showed that there had been no contact between the bat and the ball, with no spikes appearing on the ultra-edge. A clear gap was visible as the ball passed the bat.
The limit that Du Plessis’s century brought up also made the former captain the ninth South African to reach 4,000 test runs. His hundred was scored on 151 balls and included 15 fours.
Ngidi pitched left-hander Karunaratne in the third envelope of the second inning with a ball thrown from around the wicket that stayed low and crashed into the stump. He kept making Mendis catch on the first slip.
Kusal Perera and first-inning top scorer Dinesh Chandimal led Sri Lanka to the finish, scoring nearly a run and South Africa established attacking grounds.
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