Day 3 of the first Test against Sri Lanka completely belonged to South Africa as they had the visitors with a virtually insurmountable challenge of getting to the 516-run target set. They were spotless with bat and ball as the Lankans were never able to cope with how clinical the hosts were in their on-field endeavours. With only five wickets in the bank, the visitors require 413 runs to achieve what seems to be a highly unlikely triumph.
Resuming the day on a score of 132/3, the primary objective of the hosts would have been to maximize the score on the board. This is what they exactly did. Skipper, Temba Bavuma, who was his side’s highest scorer in the first innings, progressed on his merry way. He was ably supported at the other end, and over time, made the opposition bowlers look helpless.
The 13th over of the second session had Tristan Stubbs notch his second Test century. His knock was a rather gritty one considering the overall scheme of things. It was Bavuma’s time to raise his bat to the exuberant crowd at Kingsmead after he brought up his ton in 202 deliveries. Shortly after, the two centurions were dismissed within an interval of a few overs as South Africa declared on 366.
The post-Tea session belonged to the Proteas as they got rid of the opening pair within the first 10 overs of the run-chase. Angelo Mathews along with Dinesh Chandimal seemed to have steadied the ship but the former was dismissed in the 21st over after being rapped on the pads by the star of the show for the hosts in this match up until now, Marco Jansen. Kagiso Rabada’s dismissal in the penultimate over the day of night-watcher, Prabhath Jayasuriya, pegged Sri Lanka back in a mission that seems almost unattainable.
Check out how X reacted to Day 3 of the first Test between SA and SL:
South Africa 🇿🇦 vs Sri Lanka 🇱🇰, Durban – 1st Test, Day 3
Stumps: Sri Lanka 103-5, 42 | SA 366-5 dec, 191.
Sri Lanka need 413 runs, SA need 5 wickets to win.
Day 2 summary:
Stubbs: 122(221)
Bavuma: 113(228)
Jansen: 2-22 (11 overs)
Chandimal: 29*(62 balls).#SAvsSL | #WTC2025 pic.twitter.com/mkCwTOoGhL
— Akaran.A (@Akaran_1) November 29, 2024
Unvelievable from De Zorbi, never seen something like this..such a great reflexes
Will talk about this for a long time #SAvsSL pic.twitter.com/wdrmHQkCYC
— GunningForGlory (@ars_kumar) November 29, 2024
50+ scores in most successive Tests from debut
8 – Kamindu Mendis – (ended today)
7 – Saud Shakeel
6 – Bert Sutcliffe
6 – Saeed Ahmed
6 – Basil Butcher
6 – Sunil Gavaskar#SAvSL #SAvsSL
— Shashikant Singh (@shashi_CB) November 29, 2024
Lord Bavuma who turned the Test match to SA on driving seat now !!
When SA was struggling at 83-5 he played 70 runs inning led to respectable total !
Century in second inning led SA to post 516 run target 🎯! #SAvsSL #tembabavuma pic.twitter.com/FeO5eog01Q
— अनुज यादव 🇮🇳 (@Hello_anuj) November 29, 2024
Can’t imagine the nightmare of Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada should South Africa reach the WTC final. Under current scenario, they are surely the frontrunners.#SAvsSL #MarcoJansen #KagisoRabada
— Aayushman Vishwanathan (@Aayushmansmudge) November 29, 2024