Sri Lanka became the first Asian nation to defeat South Africa in a Test series in South Africa when they won the 2-match Test series in 2019. However, things are completely different this time as South Africa staged a comeback to win the Test series by 2-0.
Having opted to bat first, Sri Lankan batsmen failed to show up as they were bundled out for just 157 in their first innings. Proteas pacer Anrich Nortje ripped through Lankan side with a 6-wicket haul while Wiaan Mulder provided able support with 3 wickets.
South Africa fumbled at the start losing their first wicket for just 34 runs on the board. Opener Dean Elgar and van der Dussen then added 184 runs for the second wicket to help home team take lead in the first innings. However, South Africa lost wickets in a hurry once the second-wicket stand is broken. They lost their last 9 wickets for just 84 runs taking a 145-run lead in the first innings.
Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals during their second innings but their captain Dimuth Karunaratne scored a century and in the process he helped visitors waive off the deficit. Once Sri Lankan captain departed, they lost wickets at regular intervals bundling out for 211 in their second innings, thereby setting a 67-run target for South Africa.
Proteas openers Elgar and Markram both remained unbeaten in their second innings to help them cruise to a 10-wicket victory in this Test match. Dean Elgar has been named as the ‘Player of the Match’ and ‘Player of the Series’ for his contributions with the bat in this series.
Brief Scores: South Africa – 302 all out (Dean Elgar – 127, Vishwa Fernando – 5/101) & 67/0 (Aiden Markram – 36*, Dean Elgar – 31*) defeated Sri Lanka 157 all out (Kusal Perera – 60, Anrich Nortje – 6/56) & 211 all out (Dimuth Karunaratne – 103, Lungi Ngidi – 4/44) by a margin of 10 wickets
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