Sri Lanka put up a sturdy performance against South Africa on the 2nd day of the 2nd Test match. Pathum Nissanka looked as a batter on a mission who played a key role in cutting down the deficit to 116 runs after South Africa was bundled out for 358. The pitch was helping the fast bowlers a lot but at the same time the bowlers needed to toil as well.
Kyle Verreyne struck a breath-taking ton in the morning session
South Africa’s score at the end of Day 1 was 269-7 in 86.3 overs. The wickets kept on tumbling from the other end where Kyle Verreyne was smashing the bowlers all around the park. Kyle Verreyne was in attacking mode even he wasn’t afraid to take on the lethal fast bowler Lahiru Kumara. In the 99th over, Verreyne hit 3 fours on the bowling of Asitha Fernando and the short ball barrage ploy wasn’t effective.
In the 103rd over, Verreyne got to his 3rd test ton as the world cricket got to witness a breath-taking approach by the wicket-keeper who most of the time plays the supporting role in the batting unit. Kyle Verreyne got to his century in just 132 deliveries and the morning session was no short of a highlights package as runs were scored quickly. South Africa were bundled out for 358. Pathum Nissanka & Dimuth Karunaratne were unscathed in a short 6-over spell before the afternoon session.
Pathum Nissanka & Dimuth Karunaratne get Sri Lanka to a decent start
Dimuth Karunaratne was a bit extra careful while playing the cover drive shots as Marco Jansen bowled the off-stump channel deliveries quite consistently but couldn’t entice a fall shot. The partnership between Nissanka & Karunaratne was building but Rabada in the 16th over just before the drinks break, Karunaratne played tried to play a cut short but couldn’t time properly due to a bit extra bounce, and the catch was taken by Kyle Verreyne and the visitors’ score was 41 -1.
Pathum Nissanka didn’t let the dismissal affect his natural attacking brand of cricket. Dinesh Chandimal came to bat at no.3 position was hitting an odd boundary and made sure that Rabada was forced to change his line & length by whacking boundaries. South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma was worried as the scoreboard kept ticking. Sri Lanka’s score at the end of the afternoon session was 103-1.
Pathum Nissanka & Dinesh Chandimal continue to assert their dominance; South Africa makes a comeback
The pitch was proving to be a placid one for bowlers despite the previous Tests at Gqeberaha suggesting that it’s not quite a batting paradise. Dane Paterson who had come into the team in the place of Gerald Coetzee got the better of Dinesh Chandimal in the 45th over when he was forced to play a delivery outside off-stump and nicked the ball to wicket-keeper. Chandimal was out on 44 runs in 97 balls and struck 5 fours. Sri Lanka’s score was 150-2 and they were trailing by 208 runs.
Pathum Nissanka was then accompanied by the veteran Angelo Matthews. Pathum Nissanka was looking ominous as the evening session went ahead. It was quite unbelievable to see the dismissal of Pathum Nissanka who went down the track against Keshav Maharaj and was bowled. Nissanka was timing the deliveries exquisitely and missed a golden opportunity of smashing a ton as he was dismissed on 89 runs in 157 balls and struck 11 fours and 1 six. Angelo Matthews & Kamindu Mendis steadied the ship for the island nation as Sri Lanka’s score was 242-3 and were trailing by 116 runs.
What lies ahead on Day 3 for South Africa & Sri Lanka
With second new ball available after 13 more overs, South Africa need to stop the flow of runs. In the ongoing partnership of Angelo & Kamindu, both the batters have rotated the strike as the left hand-right hand combination often tend to frustrate bowlers. Temba Bavuma’s captaincy would be tested given will he start Day 3 with spinners or Kagiso Rabada & pacers as Rabada can also reverse swing.
Sri Lanka have brought themselves back in this Test match as well as Test series. If Sri Lanka get a lead over 100 runs then they will have a great chance of winning the Test match. Dhananjay de Silva & Kusal Mendis are waiting in dug out as the visitors can play fearlessly. The 1st hour of Day 3 can help Sri Lanka immensely to cut the deficit from 116 runs to even 20 or 30 runs which can be crucial.