GQEBERHA: An unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership between captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis kept Sri Lanka’s hopes alive on the penultimate day of the second Test against South Africa here at St George’s Park on Sunday.
Chasing a mammoth target of 348 runs, the touring team fell to 122/5 when Keshav Maharaj removed the two batsmen Angelo Mathews (32) and Kamindu Mendis (35) in quick succession, who earlier shared a 73-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
The consecutive dismissals were followed by a challenging stand between Dhananjaya and Kusal, which pushed their team’s total past the 200-run mark.
Dhananjaya and Kusal, unbeaten on 39 runs each, will resume Sri Lanka’s second innings on the final day at 205/5, needing another 143 runs.
At the start of the busy day, the home team resumed the second innings of 191/3 through captain Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs, with a 221-run lead in their favour.
The pair could add 22 runs to their overnight fourth-wicket partnership as Stubbs was run out just three short of his second Test half-century.
Bavuma then teamed up with David Bedingham for a crucial 41-run partnership before being run out by Prabath Jayasuriya.
He remained South Africa’s top scorer with 66 off 116 deliveries with the help of three fours and two sixes.
Bedingham (35) was then involved in a brief 14-run partnership with first innings centurion Kyle Verreynne (nine) before they both died in successive overs, reducing the total to 273/7.
Sri Lanka’s bowling attack led by Jayasuriya then swept South Africa’s tail to score 317 in the second innings.
Left-arm spinner Jayasuriya took five wickets in the second innings while Vishwa Fernando took two wickets. Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara, on the other hand, contributed one wicket each.
For the unversed, South Africa lead Sri Lanka 1-0 in the two-match Test series, crucial for both sides in the final race of the World Test Championship (WTC).
