South Africa boosted their chances of reaching their first World Test Cup final with a 109-run win over Sri Lanka in the second and final Test as they wrapped up the series 2-0 at St George’s Park in Gkeberha.
Chasing 348, Sri Lanka needed 143 runs with five wickets in hand on the fifth morning of the second Test, with overnight batsmen Kamindu Mendis (46) and Dhananjaya de Silva (50) at the crease.
But Mendis slipped Keshav Maharaj (5-76) to Aiden Markram to end their 97-run partnership before Kagiso Rabada (2-63) caught the outside edge of De Silva’s bat and the Proteas dismissed both strikes inside the first half hour of play.
Keshav Maharaj claimed a five-wicket haul to help South Africa to victory
Marco Jansen (1-54) then combined with Maharaj to dismiss Sri Lankan tailbacks Prabhat Jayasuriya (9), Vishwa Fernando (5) and Lahiru Kumara (1) as the visitors were bowled out for 238.
Maharaj took three of the five wickets on the final morning to claim his 11th career five-wicket haul.
South Africa are now ahead of Australia and India at the top of the World Test Championship table and have two more home Tests against Pakistan, starting on December 26, while Sri Lanka’s defeat means their hopes of making the finals at Lord’s , however, are over.
“For a lot of guys, it was a proper Test. It’s rare that you get to play all five days and it’s rare that the game swings either way,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said.
“Credit to Sri Lanka for the way they did business. They asked the right questions, they made us work hard for the win.
“The World Test table is looking good, we still have two games to go. I don’t know what the maths is, but we want to keep doing what we’re doing and start talking about Pakistan in a couple of weeks.”
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into it Sky TVstreaming service NOW! and: The Sky Sports appthis year giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport at no extra cost. Learn more here.
