Gqeberha : South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 109 runs at St George’s Park, Gqeberha in 2nd Test, thereby whitewashing them 2-0. With this victory, they’re now just 1 win away from qualifying into World Test Championship 2025 final berth & secured top position in the points table.
In 1st innings, South Africa Batting first saw Ryan Rickelton (101) & Kyle Verreynne (105*) smash respective tons after being down to 44-3. They’re well accompanied by skipper Temba Bavuma (78) as the Proteas ended the innings on 358.
Sri Lankan top order with likes of Pathum Nissanka (89), Dinesh Chandimal (44), Angelo Mathews (44), Kamindu Mendis (48) showed high hopes, however, their lower middle order collapsed and were restricted to 328, 30 runs short of South Africa’s total.
Dane Paterson (5/71) picked 5-fer for Proteas in this innings.
In 2nd innings, Sri Lankan bowlers looked promising, especially Prabhat Jayasuriya (5/129), picking up 5-fer and restricting South Africa to 317 runs.
Skipper Temba Bavuma (66) & Tristan Stubbs (47) played handy knocks to bring Proteas to that score and set target of 348 runs for Sri Lanka.
Chasing 349 runs, Sri Lanka lost 3 wickets for 64 runs, but Angelo Mathews (32) & Kamindu Mendis (35) with 53 runs partnership put Sri Lanka back on track. However, they lost their wickets to Keshav Maharaj in consecutive overs on 122.
Sri Lanka saw huge ray of hopes with 97 runs partnership between Kusal Mendis (46) & Dhananjaya de Silva (50) but after their dismissals, the whole lower order crumbled and got bundled for 238 runs.
Keshav Maharaj (5/76) picked 5-fer to script Proteas 109 runs victory.
South Africa whitewashed Sri Lanka 2-0 and will face Pakistan in 2 match Test series starting from December 26, 2024, & need to win just 1 match to qualify to final of World Test Championship 2025. They’re on top of points table in WTC.
Paterson was adjourned the man of the match while Bavuma the man of the series.
Brief Scorecard :
1st Innings :
SA : 358
Kyle Verreynne : 105* (133)
Ryan Rickelton : 101 (250)
Temba Bavuma : 78 (109)
SL :
Lahiru Kumara : 4/29
1st Innings :
SL : 328
Pathum Nissanka : 89 (157)
SA :
Dane Paterson : 5/71
2nd Innings :
SA : 317
Temba Bavuma : 66 (116)
Aiden Markram : 55 (75)
SL :
Prabhat Jayasuriya : 5/129
2nd Innings :
SL : 238
Dhananjaya de Silva : 50 (92)
SA :
Keshav Maharaj : 5/76
Result : South Africa win by 109 runs.
