Watch cricket video highlights of Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2024. 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Venue of the match will be Gqeberha.
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South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 109 runs at St George’s Park, putting them atop the World Test Championship (WTC) standings. On the last morning, with the second new ball still 10.5 overs away, they bowled Sri Lanka out for 238 in 69 minutes, sweeping the series 2-nil. Keshav Maharaj claimed four of the last five wickets on the final morning, recording his tenth and fourth Test five-for at St George’s Park. Their efforts from the day before were undone by a lower-order collapse in which Sri Lanka lost five wickets for 19 runs in 62 balls.
On a somewhat calm pitch, they were quite well-set overnight and returned on 202 for 5, with two batsmen well-set. In their 83-run sixth-wicket stand, Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva were at ease against a South African attack that acknowledged probing a bit too hard on the fourth day. A fired-up Kagiso Rabada was still able to detect a trace of away movement in the easterly breeze when they returned fresh on the last morning.
In the seventh over of the morning, Maharaj hammered hard-handed deliveries that turned away from Kusal, breaking the Kusal-Dhananjaya stand. In order to verify Kusal’s dismissal, the third umpire had to be sure Aiden Markam had fingers underneath the catch, which he took low to the ground. After 14 deliveries, Rabada took out the Sri Lankan skipper, rewarding him for his periods of precision and threat throughout the series. A ball trailed away, edged, and was caught behind when Dhananjaya drove at it.
Since there were no more recognized hitters, Sri Lanka’s tail was coming. When Maharaj produced a long-hop and attempted to smoke it over the offside but was caught in Temba Bavuma’s hands at extra cover, Prabath Jayasuriya’s eyes brightened. Although Sri Lanka managed to reach the drinks break, Vishwa Fernando smashed the ball over the boundary line in the second over after the interval. At mid-on, Marco Jansen had ample time to go beneath it and make a straightforward grab.
Lahiru Kumara swung hard and top-edged, but Jansen only needed one short delivery to get rid of him after being given the ball in the following over. At short mid-wicket, Ryan Rickelton clinched South Africa’s series victory by making a good catch in a minor swirl. With one more victory, South Africa will be assured of a spot in the final the following year. They can reach that point if they defeat Pakistan at home in their last games of this cycle, which are on Boxing Day and New Year’s.
Although they need to defeat Australia at home early next year and hope for other favorable outcomes, Sri Lanka is still in the running.
