South Africa register an innings & 45 runs victory over Sri Lanka

South Africa register an innings and 45 runs victory over Sri Lanka. faf du Plessis dismissed on 199 .

South Africa thrash Sri Lanka in the Boxing Day Test Match here at Centurion by an innings and 45 runs. This was South African wicket keeper Quinton de Kock’s maiden test match as captain. He would be happy as his side has won convincingly under his captaincy. Sri Lanka were not really there the entire test match. The intensity was missing and lack of test match practice was clearly visible. Also they were marred by a lot of injuries as many players did not meet fitness requirements needed for a test match.

1st innings Sri Lanka 396-10(96.0 overs). D Chandimal 85(161), D de Silva 79(106), L Sipamla 4/76, W Mulder 3/69.
South Africa 621-10(142.1 overs). F du Plessis 199(276), D Elgar 95(130), W Hasaranga 4/171, V Fernando 3/129.

2nd innings Sri Lanka 180-10(46.1 overs). K Perera 64(87), W Hasaranga 59(53), L Sipamla 2/24, L Ngidi 2/38.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Faf Du Plessis

After winning the toss, Sri Lankan captain D Karunaratne decided to bat first. Sri Lanka posted a pretty decent total on the board. There were half-centuries from Chandimal, de Silva and Shanaka and quite a lot of useful contributions from other batsmen. Then when South Africa came to bat, they were attacking from the word go.

Faf du Plessis dismissed on 199

Their openers Elgar and Markram gave them a solid start, both completing their half-centuries in the process. Then the experienced Faf du Plessis took full advantage of the weakened bowling attack of Sri Lanka. He was unfortunately dismissed on 199. It was a very soft dismissal, and it was very disheartening to see him wait longer for his maiden double century in test cricket. Other half centuries from lower order batsmen Bavuma and Maharaj helped South Africa cross the 600 run barrier. South Africa, with such fast run-scoring, secured a more than handy first innings lead of 225 runs.

In Sri Lanka’s second innings, the hosts needed early breakthroughs and that was given by Lungi Ngidi. Nortje, Mulder, Sipamla and Ngidi himself all took 2 wickets apiece and through this all round bowling effort, South Africa managed to bowl out the Sri Lankans for just 180. South Africa register an innings and 45 runs victory over Sri Lanka .

Captain de Kock was very happy at the post match presentation and iterated that this was a hard-fought win. He also admitted that the first innings bowling could have been better. Faf du Plessis expressed his disappointment at missing the double century but at the same time said that the team winning was more important to him.

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