SA v SL, 1st Test Day 5 Review: Abbott and Philander close out the Test match

All it took for South Africa bowlers Kyle Abbott and Vernon Philander was a small matter of 13.3 overs and an hour to go along with it to close out the first Test match at Port Elizabeth against a feeble Sri Lankan side that certainly had no idea about what the day held for them. Five wickets fell as 41 runs were scored on the morning and both the sides now have the day off.

It began on a sour note for the Sri Lankans as they lost their skipper in just the second over of the day. This ensured that there was a serious problem with the backbone of the side gone. It was a peach of a delivery from Kyle Abbott, one that had simply ripped through the gate.

A review from Angelo Mathews that eventually prevailed ensured that the decision was given in favor of the bowler Abbott who had made perhaps the most important breakthrough of the morning. The Proteas bowlers were on a rampage. Vernon Philander was beating the outside edge on so many occasions that the crowd even prepared to leave in a hurry.

Four overs later, it was Abbott who struck yet again. This time he had removed the last of the recognisable batsmen in the Sri Lankan ranks in the form of Dhanajaya de Silva. Once again, it was the Philander-Abbott partnership that was working in tandem to ensure that yet another wicket had fallen as well.

This wicket eventually saw the gate open as the likes of Lakmal and Chameera simply did not possess the batting acumen to equip themselves against a rampant South African attack. What was much worse was that Rangana Herath was perhaps the last great defender of the Sri Lankan batting unit until of course, he realized that he was facing the world’s best exponent of swing bowling in the form of Philander.

It would take a brilliant one-handed diving catch for Philander to finally get his name amongst the wickets as Herath was the penultimate man to go. Suranga Lakaml proved to be one of those frustration players who could bat as night watchman if need be.

He was stroking the ball with decent finesse as he amassed 19 runs in the morning. However, Kagiso Rabada had other plans as he soon took over to dismiss the unassuming Dushmantha Chameera before Keshav Maharaj brought the curtain down on the match when he cleaned up Nuwan Pradeep. Stephen Cook’s impressive ton in the second innings ensured that he would pick up the man of the match award.

Brief Scores:

South Africa, 1st innings: 286 all out

Sri Lanka, 1st innings: 205 all out

South Africa, 2nd innings: 406/6 decl.

Sri Lanka, 2nd innings: 281 all out (A Mathews 59; K Rabada 3/77)

Man of the match: Stephen Cook