Spectators were treated to sensational cricket at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, as an unstoppable seam-led South African bowling attack utterly smashed Sri Lanka on the third day of the third test, giving the Proteas a win by an innings and 118 runs, and a 3–0 series whitewash over The Lions.
Sri Lanka started the day on 80 runs for four wickets, chasing South Africa’s first innings total of 426, and would have liked to crawl their way back into the game. But a relentless bowling attack on the part of the Proteas’ four seamers on 14 January, meant that the visitors could only put 51 more runs on the board before being bowled out for 131.
Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis and his team were eager for a win and, seeing the overcast conditions, made Sri Lanka bat again, trailing by 295 runs. The conditions indeed favoured the bowlers, and wickets fell throughout the day, with the only mentionable stand being that of Dimuth Karunaratne with 50 runs off 78 balls. Sri Lanka were bowled out in their second innings for 177 runs.
It was a memorable test match debut for Duanne Olivier (24) who bagged five wickets for 57 runs in the match. Wayne Parnell took six wickets for 89 runs, Kagiso Rabada took five wickets for 94 runs, and Vernon Philander took four wickets for 63 runs.
While some would have said the game was over too quickly, as many Joburgers could only come to the stadium on the weekend, what the crowd was treated to on Saturday was special.
“It has been great entertainment. It is good to see Kagiso Rabada do so well,” said spectator, Sphile Sibaya. For Jacques Mackenzie, the one-sided cricket was “brilliant”. “We smashed them, I love it,” he said. Llewellyn Patrick commented, “The vibe is always great at the Wanderers, it has been a great day. It is actually nice that we bowled them out so quickly, so the Proteas can rest on Sunday.”
