Rex Clementine in Port Elizabeth
South Africa captain Francois du Plessis said that he delayed the declaration of his team’s second innings fearing that the Sri Lankans would chase down the target.
When South Africa finished day three on 351 for five, they had a lead of 434. Sri Lanka had not even once scored 350 runs in South Africa and their highest successful run chase ever against any opposition was 352.
With odds very much against the tourists to chase down the target, Du Plessis could have declared overnight but he decided otherwise as there was very little support for the bowlers at St. George’s Park wicket after the first two days.
“We were thinking of maybe declaring overnight but I felt it was a really good wicket and it was flat to bat on, and Sri Lanka showed on day four that it was going to be tough. It was only going to be a new-ball wicket,” Du Plessis said.
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“We were hoping it would spin more. The odd ball would spin and it didn’t reverse. Sri Lanka had a few soft wickets. If they had a few batsmen put their hand up they could have chased this score down,” the South African captain further said.
South Africa could only manage 286 runs in their first innings, but their bowlers ensured that Sri Lanka didn’t take a lead by restricting the opposition for 205. Then an improved effort with the bat saw the host’s post 406 in their second innings and that proved to more than enough.
“This game worked out really well for us. We did everything right. Winning the toss on a green top you could easily bowl first. But we thought it would quicken up on day two, which it did. So to get a hundred-run partnership with the openers was amazing. It set the tone for us for the test.”
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“In the second innings when the wicket was better the batting unit laid their authority down. It was a great opportunity for us as a batting unit to dominate and we did. We put them under pressure and they were not in the game. The bowling was excellent. Day three was a day of not many rewards but every single bowler did everything right. I was extremely impressed with the way the guys bowled and (on Friday) we got the rewards.”
