PRETORIA: Opener Dean Elgar fell five short runs of a century as South Africa climbed to 317 for four at the end of play on the second day of the first Test against an injured Sri Lanka at Centurion Park on Sunday (December 27 ).
Elgar looked ready for his 13th ton test until he gave Sri Lanka a chance to catch Dasun Shanaka and take a sharp chance.
Faf du Plessis (55 not out) and Temba Bavuma (41 not out) will start on the third morning after scoring 97 runs, hoping South Africa will push past the first innings score of 396 the visitors after two days without scoring resulted in 713 runs at a flat rate of 4.24 runs per place.
That would suggest a batting paradise, but the wicket has supported the bowlers, with both sides possibly guilty of faulting in line and length and not taking advantage of speed and kick. uneven.
“This is one of those wickets if you put yourself in action and simplify your game plan, you can scratch scratches,” Elgar told SuperSport at the end.
“We have changed the trend during the day and he may be back in our living room after a difficult day yesterday.
“We want to only bat once this wicket and then it’s up to the mattresses. We may have to run another 200-plus tomorrow.”
Sri Lanka had already lost Dhananjaya de Silva for the rest of the test series after he suffered a hamstring injury and 79 injuries on the first day, and were further hampered when sailor Kasun Rajitha out after bowling 2.1 overs in South Africa’s Indies.
He is expected to have a scan on Sunday and his participation in the rest of the trial is yet to be confirmed, leaving the tourists without a top six bat and two of their archers.
POSITIVE INTENT
South Africa took advantage when they raced to 141 in the 29th over, with Aiden Markram (68) and Elgar attacking the archers.
But when Markram picked up Shanaka in the gully trying to play off the bat from sailor Vishwa Fernando (1-59), the move was halted.
With a small drop by the score of 200 they lost three more wikis to add just 20 more runs, with Rassie van der Dussen (15) and dangerman Quinton de Kock (18) falling free.
But Du Plessis and Bavuma stood on the ship and took the campaign back to the home team.
Sri Lanka had restarted their first innings at 340 effectively for seven after a De Silva injury, with Shanaka ‘s best true 66 unseen putting 56 runs in 11 innings before he ran out of partners.
South African Debutant sailor Lutho Sipamla (4-76) said the remaining three wikis.
The second and final test will be played in Johannesburg from 3 January