BY DEAN CLOETE
South Africa made klein skooltjie of Sri Lanka innie Baai on Monday, winning the second cricket Test by 109 runs for a 2-0 series clean sweep.
The victory, added to the 233-run pak slae of the visitors in Durban, sent the Lankans home stert tussen die bene and out of the running to make the World Test Championship final, while simultaneously lifting South Africa into first place in the Test standings.
With two more five-day matches against Pakistan to come in this cycle, SA are a shoo-in to make next year’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
Job done by the @ProteasMenCSA ✅
Marco Jansen takes the final wicket as South Africa win the match and the Test series 2-0 🇿🇦#SAvSL | #SummerOfCricket pic.twitter.com/SUH2rm5Oo2
And Man of the Series against Sri Lanka, captain Temba Bavuma, is excited at the thought, saying:
“We still have two games to go…
“We are playing good cricket and there’s reasons for that and we want to continue for longer.”
Needing five wickets on the final day at St George’s Park in Gqeberha to win the match yesterday, Keshav Maharaj took 5/76 to help SA bowl Sri Lanka out for 238 (Dhananjaya de Silva 50).
SA scored 358 (Kyle Verreynne 105*, Ryan Rickelton 101; Lahiru Kumara 4/79) and 317 (Bavuma 66; Prabath Jayasuriya 5/129) in their innings, with Sri Lanka scoring 328 (Pathum Nissanka 89; Dane Paterson 5/71) in their first innings.
SA, who are on a five-match winning streak, next face Pakistan at Centurion Park on Boxing Day.
On top of the World👆🌍
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 9, 2024
After our 2-0 Series win over Sri Lanka, the Proteas now sit in the top spot on the WTC Standings.🏏
A series win against Pakistan in December will secure our spot in the Final at Lords!🏟️⚡️🙂↕️#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #WTCRankings pic.twitter.com/z1a230jSDj