A maiden Test ton for Theunis de Bruyn was not enough to spare South Africa some blushes, as they succumbed to a 199-run defeat in the second match against Sri Lanka at the SCC Colombo. The hosts take the series 2-0, having also triumphed in the first Test in Galle in rather convincing fashion. Sri Lanka vs South Africa: De Bruyn and Bavuma offer some hope The 25-year-old resumed the South African innings on 151/5 and, together with batting partner Temba Bavuma, held off the inevitable as they put together a partnership of 123, playing a balanced mix of tentative cricket and aggressive strokes. Watch: Stunning Markram catch helps Keshav Maharaj take historic 9-fer Both batsmen crossed the 50 mark – with de Bruyn reaching the milestone for the first time in Test cricket – and took the visitors to within 20 minutes before lunch with no further wickets until Bavuma was the first to fall, as he landed the faintest of edges to a Rangana Herath delivery, caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella for 63. Quinton de Kock was aggressive first up, but didn’t last too long as he was trapped leg before by Herath for 8, taking South Africa to 246/7. Kagiso Rabada was next in and kept de Bruyn company, long enough for him bring up his century, and it was the set batsman who was the first to depart, shouldering arms to a straight one from Herath to see his off-stump uprooted. Read: Six South African bowlers who have taken eight wickets in a Test innings Rabada did not last too long either, as he was caught by Angelo Mathews off Dilruwan Perera. The last wicket pair of Lungi Ngidi and Dale Steyn offered a couple of big shots, but that would prove to be the latter’s undoing as he skied one to hand Herath his sixth wicket of the innings as he finished with figures of 6/98. Read: Dale Steyn: Five quick facts about the Proteas spearhead<doc-sep>Dimuth Karunaratne was batting on 59 at stumps (Source: AP) Dimuth Karunaratne was batting on 59 at stumps (Source: AP) Keshav Maharaj returned the second-best figures by a South African bowler in a test innings but Sri Lanka took a firm step towards a 2-0 series sweep after thoroughly dominating day two of the second and final test on Saturday. South Africa’s spin frailties were laid bare once again as the tourists collapsed for 124 to concede a first innings lead of 214 runs at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. Sri Lanka, who made 338 in the first innings, were 151-3 at stumps after deciding not to impose follow-on against the tourists who now stare at the possibility of a second successive test defeat inside three days. Dimuth Karunaratne was batting on 59 at stumps, his fourth successive 50-plus knock in the series, with Angelo Mathews on 12 at the other end. For South Africa, left arm-spinner Maharaj took his match-haul to 11 wickets but his team were in dire straits. Earlier resuming the day on 277 for nine, Akila Dananjaya and Rangana Herath frustrated South Africa with a dogged 74-run stand for the final wicket before Maharaj struck when the latter was caught behind for 35. Dananjaya remained unbeaten on 43. Maharaj’s 9-129 is the second best by a South African in tests, behind only Hugh Tayfield’s 9-113 against England in 1957, but his success brought little cheer to a side battling their own spin vulnerabilities. Herath and Dananjaya (5-42) returned from the innings break to harm South Africa with the new ball, reducing the leaden-footed tourists to 15 for three. Dilruwan Perera (4-40) then joined the rout as South Africa lost all 10 wickets to the Sri Lankan spinners. Faf du Plessis (48) and Quinton de Kock (32) counter-attacked but it was not enough as the tourists once again failed to reach the 150-mark in the series.<doc-sep>SOUTH AFRICA IN SRI LANKA, 2018 It was written in the stars - Maharaj by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on Maharaj turned things around in the final session. © Getty Galle has obliged Sri Lanka to churn out another dustbowl on the usual road that SSC is. To simplify matters further, they win the toss as well and the openers get themselves half-centuries each. Keshav Maharaj has had ten toiling wicketless overs, getting milked at 3.5 runs an over. He doesn't even have the company of Tabraiz Shamsi's mystery from the other end, with the Proteas deciding an extra batsman to be more useful in plugging their weaknesses. There aren't many better times to pick up your career-best haul with things appearing bleak for your side, and then Maharaj triggered a stunning final session collapse to have his - 8/116 - grabbing records and accolades as he went about. He had to, given the desperate situation his side are in with historical odds stacked firmly against them. Speaking at the end of the day's play, he wasn't willing to bask in the glory of his (thus far) eight-fer. "Accolades mean a lot more when you can get the team to win a Test match," he says. "So hopefully in the second innings I can put in another performance and be on the winning end of it." "I'm a little bit fatigued, but I should wake up fresh tomorrow after having a lovely meal tonight - probably two meals. It's different bowling longer spells in the subcontinent to what you're used to back home. Heat plays a massive factor here. There's a lot of pressure from around you. I was a bit fatigued at the end of my spell." Sure he'd be tired. Anybody would be at the end of a marathon 25-over spell in the humidity that Colombo boasts of. But would another spinner from the other end have helped his cause? Shared his burden? He refuses to fall into the selection-question trap. "I'm not here to get involved in selection. I'm here to bowl my overs and play my best. South Africa is used to bowling one spinner even back home. So I'm used to doing the holding job, and I'd like to think I did it decently today. "I did get a little bit of assistance off the wicket," he admitted. "It is a little bit different here than in Galle because the ball skids on here. There's a chance of getting lbws and also the top-edge when the batsman sweeps. I'd like to think I also beat some of the batsmen in the air, with the ball dipping on them. "It wasn't the nick-off balls or lbws that got batsmen out that passed the fifty mark. It was the sweep that came into play and things like that. I think there is a lot for the batters if you get in. A lot of people would have said 'Oh, you've lost the toss and you're on the back foot', but I don't think so. We've gone at 3.2 in the whole game, and I think that's quite a good run rate to have in the subcontinent. A lot of people score a lot quicker here. I think we've controlled the aspect that we have control over." Dimuth Karunaratne's form in this series has been surface agnostic. He outscored the whole of South Africa, twice, at Galle. Today (July 20) as well, he carried on his form, piling yet another half-century. Maharaj was selfless in his praise, "Dimuth (Karunaratne) was the one guy who played within his game plan - he showed that in the first Test - and he carried that into the second Test as well. "I think Karunaratne, Dhananjaya (de Silva) and (Danushka) Gunathilaka showed the application that the batsmen need to take," he added, hinting that survival out there in the middle wasn't impossible, as yet, if one was willing to dig in. "You don't need to take many risks because there are opportunities there to score." Maharaj revealed he's followed the usual preparation protocol that's given him this result, crediting forces in and outside the dressing room. "I've always prepared the same for every Test match. I think it was written in the stars by God that things worked out this way. In these last few days, I've pushed extremely hard just to keep that rhythm going from the second innings of the last Test match. I know that for me personally, I like to be zoned out before a Test, bowling with just Hendo (Claude Henderson, the spin coach) and Prasanna (the computer analyst) after hours as well, so I think that's aided my performance today. "On wickets that are generally slow like the subcontinent wickets, it's important that the ball stays harder for longer to get that bounce and turn. When it gets softer, it gives the batsman a little more time to adjust his shots, so the period between 55 and 75 or 80 overs, you saw that the ball was a little bit easier to score off simply because it wasn't biting much off the wicket, and you didn't get the bounce that you would get off the new ball." Sri Lanka will resume on 277/9 with the final pair Akila Dananjaya (16) and Rangana Herath (5) at the crease with Maharaj on the prowl for his ninth. © Cricbuzz TAGS RELATED STORIES<doc-sep>
South Africa have a mountain to climb after finishing the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka on 139/5, still needing a mammoth 351 to avoid a series defeat. The hosts resumed their second innings on 151/3 with the series’ leading run -scorer Dimuth Karunaratne walking back into the middle with ex-skipper Angelo Mathews. Records remain elusive Left-arm spinner, Keshav Maharaj went into the third day in search of the South African record for best match-figures, having already bagged 11 scalps in the match after taking career-best 9/129. Another record-chaser was speedster, Dale Steyn who is tied with Shaun Pollock for most Test wickets by a Proteas bowler. Watch: Stunning Markram catch helps Keshav Maharaj take historic 9-fer Both records remained elusive, as Sri Lanka’s skipper, Suranga Lakmal declared on 275/5, with Maharaj only managing one more wicket to add to his tally, while Lungi Ngidi grabbed the other stick to fall on the day. This left the visitors with a mammoth target of 491 to win to avoid a series defeat. Sri Lanka vs South Africa: Visitors ride their luck Dean Elgar, in his 50th Test had a stroke of luck early on in his innings when he had his furniture disturbed by birthday boy Dilruwan Perera with just six runs on the boards, but got a reprieve as the bowler was adjudged to have overstepped by the third umpire. At the other end, his opening partner, Aiden Markram had no such luck as he was trapped in front by Rangana Herath for 14, as the duo managed to just put on 23 for the first wicket. The new man in Theunis de Bruyn survived two close shouts for leg-before, which were taken upstairs and both worked in his favour on umpire’s call. Watch: Elgar’s incredible catch to dismiss Tim Paine Elgar and Perera were back again in the thick of the action as, once again, the off-spinner thought he had his man this time, who was already back in the change room when he had to be called back as the bowler had overstepped once more. However, it was soon third time lucky for Perera as he eventually accounted for the left-hander’s scalp for 23, leaving the Proteas reeling on 80/2 and needing 410 runs to win. Hashim Amla joined de Bruyn in the middle, and also survived a review after an LBW shout was called not out by the on-field umpire. He didn’t last for too long though as he played on the wrong line of an arm ball from Herath, which crashed onto his off stump. Captain Faf du Plessis had no second life, as with just seven on the board, he was sent back into the dressing room after he got a feather of an edge to a ball which ricocheted off his pad onto the grateful hands of Mathews off the bowling of Akila Dananjaya. Maharaj was brought in as nightwatchman with 25 minutes to go before close of play, and only lasted a single delivery to become Dananjaya’s second victim. Themba Bavuma and de Bruyn steered the visitors to the close of play, with the latter top-scoring with 45, three short of his highest Test score. Read: Six South African bowlers who have taken eight wickets in a Test innings