2nd Test
Day-3 Evening Session Highlights:
All-round performance from South Africa has put them in a dominant position in Gqeberha
At The Stumps of Day-3:
South Africa scored 358 (1st Innings) & 191/3 (2nd Innings), where as Sri Lanka scored 328 (1st Innings).
So, finally South Africa lead by 221 runs.
A strong performance with both bat and ball has put South Africa in a commanding position in the second Test against Sri Lanka.
After allowing the visitors to fight back on Day 2, South Africa bounced back this morning with a five-wicket session, which was followed by two more excellent sessions, taking them into stumps with a lead of 221 runs.
Kamindu Mendis and Angelo Mathews were key for Sri Lanka as play resumed on the third morning.
Ideally, the visitors would have wanted both of them out there to face the second new ball.
However, with just four overs left before the new ball, Marco Jansen surprised Mathews with a delivery that bounced a bit more, taking his glove before being caught by the keeper.
Soon after, Jansen struck again, this time with the new ball, dismissing Mendis.
Kusal Mendis, though jittery, managed to drag Sri Lanka’s score towards the 300-run mark, but any hopes of a first-innings lead were dashed in the space of six deliveries.
Dane Paterson produced a stunning three-wicket over that left the visitors reeling.
Sri Lanka could not recover from that blow, losing their final two wickets after the lunch break and handing South Africa a slender 30-run lead.
With the match effectively reduced to a second-innings shootout, South Africa had to start well, and they did just that.
The openers blunted the new ball and managed to score vital runs.
Aiden Markram played some delightful strokes, while Tony de Zorzi was the perfect foil at the other end.
Against the run of play, Asitha Fernando dismissed de Zorzi, ending the opening stand, but South Africa kept on building their lead.
Markram brought up his fifty with successive boundaries but, just when it seemed he would make a big score, he chased a wide delivery and got a thick edge.
Sri Lanka then had an opening when Prabath Jayasuriya trapped Ryan Rickelton, but the lead still stood at 139 runs.
At this point, a couple more wickets could have brought Sri Lanka back into the contest.
However, Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs stood firm, just as they did in the first Test.
They survived a probing spell from Asitha Fernando and Jayasuriya, and after the drinks break, they seized control.
Both players rotated the strike and scored the occasional boundary, including a couple of sixes from Bavuma.
Their patient partnership pushed the lead beyond 200, and South Africa now looks to finish strong on the fourth day.
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