BY DEAN CLOETE
South Africa need five wickets on Day Five of their second and final Test against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park in Gqeberha today.
After winning the first match in Durban by 233 runs, coach Shukri Conrad’s team are a shoo-in to wrap up the series, with the Lankans needing 143 more runs to win the match and draw the series.
As it is, the match is in the balance, with Dhananjaya de Silva (32*) and Kusal Mendis (37*) at the crease for Sri Lanka (205/5) as they look to score the 348 runs required to win the match.
Dane Paterson (2/33) and Keshav Maharaj (2/62) were South Africa’s most successful bowlers on Sunday.
Earlier on, captain Temba Bavuma again top-scored for South Africa with his 66 off 116 balls, while Aiden Markram finally got a decent knock when he scored 55 off 75 balls.
Tristan Stubbs scored 47 before he was run out, as South Africa klapped 317 all out in their second innings to add to the 358 they scored in the first innings. Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya (5/129) took the most wickets for the visitors in SA’s second innings.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, totalled 328 in their first innings. In that innings, Paterson was the destroyer-in-chief for the Proteas, taking 5/71.
