After a fast-paced second day that saw 19 wickets fall and records tumble, South Africa now has the upper hand at Kingsmead. In their match against South Africa, Sri Lanka was dismissed for 42, their lowest Test total and the second-shortest in terms of balls faced (83). The pace pack from South Africa was led by Marco Jansen, who went 7 for 13. He handed South Africa a 149-run advantage in the first innings with his 41 balls bowled, which is the joint-fewest in history to capture seven wickets. By the conclusion of the day, that had increased to 281, and Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs’ partnership had reached 43, the second-highest of the game.
Batting conditions were still difficult, and there was still plenty of movement available in the sunshine and beautiful skies. Day two began with South Africa restarting their first innings at 80 for 4, and 15 overs into the day, they were struggling at 117 for 7. Bavuma’s innings of 70 brought them to 191, which was their third-lowest score against Sri Lanka.
Due to a mix of poor shot selection and sharp bowling, just two Sri Lankan batsmen reached double digits. Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, and Dhananjaya de Silva were among the top seven players who may have departed the game.
When Dimuth Karunatratne held his bat out to a length delivery outside off, Kagiso Rabada initiated the slide and edged to David Bedingham at first slip. Nissanka went for a wide-ish ball four balls later, but Jansen pulled her forward.
Two overs later, a ball from Jansen sneaked through to bowl Dinesh Chandimal, who had shown dubious defense by leaving a gap between bat and pad. Additionally, Mathews’ expertise failed him when he edged to Bedingham after wafting at a ball that slanted away. At the end of the eighth over, Sri Lanka was 16 for 4.
Gerald Coetzee replaced Rabada as South Africa’s first, and ultimately only, bowling change. Kamindu drove a full throw for four to begin with. Kamindu tried to hammer Coetzee over the covers with a powerful shot, but he edged to first slip, and Coetzee soon had his reward.
Before Jansen completed another double in his final over to conclude Sri Lanka’s innings 78 minutes after it started, Coetzee took the eighth off the following ball, an LBW that was verified on review.
Lahiru Kumara led a solid Sri Lankan performance earlier in the day with his outstanding speed, while Asitha and Vishwa Fernando provided strong support. However, their bowling effort overshadowed this achievement. They liked playing on a pitch with strong bounce and carry, seamed and swung the ball, and shared five wickets between them. They would have been rather happy with the job from their first session, especially considering Sri Lanka’s excellent catching in windy circumstances.
Replays revealed an inside edge, notwithstanding Vishwa’s claim for an LBW against Kyle Verreynne’s second ball. After just three more deliveries, Kumara hit a ball at 141 kph that beat Verreynne and landed it on the front pad.
Wiaan Mulder inside-edged onto his pad after Sri Lanka squandered a review three balls later, but Mulder’s problems were far from over. Despite having trouble gripping the bat, he attempted to continue after receiving treatment on the field.
Mulder clutched his hand in agony, kept out the next ball he faced, left the final ball of the over, and then withdrew injured. X-rays revealed he had broken his finger and would not be able to bowl or field during the match, but he came back to bat for the last partnership and the second innings.
Sri Lanka decided for a double change after Kumara’s opening stint, which had begun on day one, concluded with an analysis of 8-1-51-3. Asitha replaced Kumara, and Jayasuriya’s spin replaced Vishwa.
He carelessly hit Jayasuriya to deep midwicket, where Kamindu sprang forward to make a brilliant catch. At that point, with no actual batting to come, South Africa had lost 3 for 34 in 9.1 overs.
After four consecutive Test ducks, Keshav Maharaj joined Bavuma and scored his best Test score in nine innings. He put up a fight against Jayasuriya, hitting 15 runs in his fourth over, including a spectacular six down the middle. Maharaj did not control his impulses when Vishwa replaced Jayasuriya, reaching for a wide ball and driving it upwards to Dhananjaya at mid-off.
Bavuma, who had recently turned fifty, decided to handle things himself as he was running out of partners. He got up to ramp Kumara for six, then drove him into further cover before reversing course. Bavuma top-edged to midwicket after swiping over the line, and Kumara made a good catch in the wind. That led to Mulder’s heroic first stanza, and he finished on nine not out.
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