Proteas batter Sri Lanka to claim 1-0 series lead

South Africa finished off Sri Lanka midway through the afternoon session on Saturday, claiming a comprehensive and deserved 233-run victory to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. 

It took them longer than they would have wanted, with Sri Lanka’s batters showing more resilience than they did in the first innings, but eventually the Proteas bowlers landed enough balls in the right areas to take the five wickets they needed, bowling the tourists out for 282. 

Marco Jansen finished the innings with four wickets, and claimed his first Test match 10-wicket haul, eventually finishing with figures of 11/87 for the match

There may be a few talks among the bowlers in the next few days about their consistency when conditions aren’t as much in their favour, with far too many loose deliveries, especially after lunch. 

There was no danger of Sri Lanka ever reaching the target of 516, but as they seek to become a more clinical side, such a lapse in concentration will need to be avoided in the future. 

Dinesh Chandimal, who shared a sixth-wicket partnership worth 95 with his skipper Dhananjaya de Silva in the first session, found another willing partner in the lively Kusal Mendis, with the pair putting on 75 for the seventh wicket, scored at comfortably more than four runs an over. 

Jansen and Gerald Coetzee struggled with their lines and lengths, while Keshav Maharaj didn’t find the kind of purchase he would have hoped for from his home pitch. 

Eventually an angry Coetzee dug one into the surface, forcing Chandimal into an ill-timed fend, with the leading edge looping back to the bowler. Coetzee’s reaction was characteristically animated, and his roar could be heard all the way to Pietermaritzburg. 

Chandimal finished with 83 from 174 balls, spending more than five hours at the crease, something his teammates would have appreciated as they seek any semblance of confidence heading into the second Test. 

The rest of the batting fell fairly quickly. Vishwa Fernando, who’d memorably accompanied Kusal Perera in that last-wicket partnership here in 2019, lasted just five balls before edging Maharaj to Aiden Markram, who took an excellent low catch at slip. 

Mendis, after making 48, wafted at a ball from Jansen that was angled at his body and edged to Kyle Verreynne. Asitha Fernando was the last man, losing his off-stump to Jansen. 

Jansen’s return was the second-best in a Test at Kingsmead, eclipsed only by Australian leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett, who took 13 wickets here in 1936. 

It was certainly a triumph for Jansen, who despite not bowling as well as he’d have liked in the afternoon has shown the benefits of that 12-week strength and conditioning programme. Not only is his body stronger but he admitted he had greater peace of mind too, and trusts his body more than previously. 

The Proteas' victory keeps them on track for a spot in the World Test Championship final. More than that was the way they played. They recovered superbly in the first innings from 117/7 to post 191 thanks to skipper Temba Bavuma’s 70 and then ripped Sri Lanka’s batting to shreds, dismissing them for 42 in just 13.5 overs. 

In what turned into a personal victory for Bavuma, he followed his half-century in the first innings with an outstanding 113 in the second, sharing a 249-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs, who made 122.

The second Test starts at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Thursday.