Sri Lanka vs South Africa: 2nd Test, Day 3, Review- South Africa trying hard to swim against the tide

The second Test at the close of play on day three seems to be going Sri Lanka’s way completely. After having gained a sizeable lead in the first innings, the Lankans went on to make it humungous. Their batsmen were highly impressive on the third day and the Lankans didn’t mind declaring the innings quickly.

The South African batsmen are under the pump for their poor shows at the moment. It was no different in the fourth innings of the game either. The batsmen have succumbed to the pressure and it’s almost impossible for them to draw or win the game from here on. Here is how things proceeded on the third day.

Sri Lanka sets an impossible target for South Africa to chase

Carrying on with an overnight score of 151/3, the Sri Lankan batsmen went to pile up the runs. They batted for another 47 overs on the day and added 124 runs. Hence, the lead went all the way up to 489 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne continued to impress. He carried on with a score of 59 runs from the previous day and got out after he reached 85 runs.

Angelo Mathews looked to be in good touch as he scored 71 runs in the innings. Roshen de Silva was unbeaten on 32 while Dickwella was batting on seven when Sri Lanka decided to declare the innings at 275/5 at batting for a total of 81 overs. Keshav Maharaj picked three wickets in the innings while Lungi Ngidi nipped out one wicket.

The Proteas have an uphill task ahead

There wasn’t much of a chance that South Africa would win this contest. However, they could have tried to at least draw the game. But, their batting woes continued in the second innings of this encounter as well. They already lost five wickets at the close of play on day three. The Proteas batsmen are struggling to tackle spin and a loss from this stage looks inevitable.

Dean Elgar, after having got to a good start in the innings got out after scoring 37 runs. Both Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis failed to deliver in this innings. While Amla scored six runs, du Plessis could only manage seven runs. Theunis de Bruyn, who scored 45 runs thus far is continuing to battle out there in the middle.

He is at the crease with Temba Bavuma who scored 14 runs thus far. South Africa, after having batted for 41 overs were 139/5 and are currently 351 runs away from a win, which seems to be a far cry for the time being. Rangana Herath and Akila Dhananjaya picked two wickets each.

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka, 1st Innings: 338/10 in 104.1 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 60, Danushka Gunathilaka 57, Keshav Maharaj 9/129)

South Africa, 1st Innings: 124/10 in 34.5 overs (Faf du Plessis 48, Quinton de Kock 32, Akila Dhananjaya 5/52)

Sri Lanka, 2nd Innings: 275/5 d  in 81 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 85, Angelo Mathews 71, Keshav Maharaj 3/154)

South Africa, 2nd Innings: 139/5 in 41 overs (Theunis de Bruyn 45*, Dean Elgar 37, Akila Dhananjaya 2/35)

South Africa need 351 runs.

Close of Play: Day 3