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Faf du Plessis obtained his highest score in the test (Gallo Images)
Batting records fell on the third day of the first test between the Proteas and Sri Lanka at Centurion, as the hosts placed themselves in prime position for a win.
By racking up a colossal 621, South Africa secured a 225-run lead, which seemed increasingly useful as their battered opponents ended up on a staggering 65/2 at the end, which is effectively three wickets less with Dhananjaya de Silva unable to hit.
His first innings total is the highest in test cricket at SuperSport Park.
Appropriately, the hosts’ spree was spearheaded by the oldest member of their squad, Faf du Plessis.
The 36-year-old veteran removed many of the doubts about his continued selection, particularly given the prevailing sentiment that South Africa is in a rebuilding phase, by creating a superb and fluid 199.
It was a substantial improvement over his previous highest score in testing, the 137 he achieved against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth in early 2013.
The only disappointment was that his 276-ball tenure in the fold did not translate into a well-deserved double hundred, which would have been the 16th in South African testing history.
Instead, he tamely and unexpectedly tried to throw rookie Wanindu Hasaranga (4/171) over the middle of the field, only to see the ball leap into an almost embarrassed Dimuth Karunaratne.
Du Plessis threw his head back in frustration and Dean Elgar, who missed a century by five races, was caught on camera with his head between his knees in the locker room.
He’s intimately familiar with the feeling – his highest test score is also 199.
Yet there is no question of his value in a team that hopes to once again become a burgeoning force in world cricket.
It is true that Du Plessis’s march to double hundred was significantly eased by a compromised Sri Lankan attack that has been hit by injuries.
With Kasun Rajitha and Dhananjaya de Silva already taken out of the equation on the second day, the Islanders lost pacemaker Lahiru Kumara to a groin injury, while Hasaranga also walked away for a significant period of time with a blow to the knee in the gardens.
Forced to use part-time to manage front-line bowlers, the visitors simply didn’t have the ammunition to control South Africa’s scoring rate.
Consequently, several other hitters also cashed in different degrees.
Wiaan Mulder complemented an impressive bowling display in Sri Lanka’s early innings with a joyous 36, his highest score to date, which ended frustratingly when he edged Hasaranga at the last minute.
It was a shot that reminded everyone that the talented off-roader is still inexperienced, having just survived a capture in the previous installment.
Keshav Maharaj made the most of his chance, hitting six fours and two sixes on his career-enhancing 73 of 106, made in India last year, by one run.
Such was the dominance of the Proteas at the end of it all, that the groundwork laid down by Du Plessis and Temba Bavuma was almost forgotten.
The pair, who added 179 for the fifth wicket, had to deftly navigate a surface that behaved erratically earlier in the day before Bavuma dropped by 71.
However, the dismissal of the diminutive hitter was controversial as he was the victim of his own nobility.
It is true that Bavuma made a cut in the wide delivery of Dasun Shanaka (2/98), but the replays showed that he did not actually make the delivery.
It overshadowed a good entry that really should have turned into an elusive second century of testing.
Lungi Ngidi enhanced the batters’ efforts with a quick two-wicket burst, casting away captain Dimuth Karunaratne with a splendid more complete around the wicket that stayed low, before inducing a slip lead from Kusal Mendis.
It illustrated the value of staying further on this surface, though Anrich Nortje’s continued insistence on bowling faster and shorter allowed the dangerous Kusal Perera to reach an ominous undefeated 33.
