The Proteas picked up just a solitary wicket in the first session as Sri Lanka took their lead to 451 at lunch on day three of the second Test in Colombo.
Having ended day two on 151-3 with a 365-run lead, Sri Lanka continued to push on towards a 500-run lead ashe torture continued for the Proteas.
Dimuth Karunaratne continued to play with freedom piling runs onto his side’s already hefty lead, building a solid partnership with Angelo Mathews.
The Proteas struggled to find an early breakthrough. They had no choice but to persist with their fast bowlers despite the pitch offering them nothing, as South Africa were starting to bear the brunt of only selecting one spinner.
Lungi Ngidi, however, found a way to get the first wicket of the session. He strangled Kuraratne down the leg-side and found an edge from his flick which saw Quinton de Kock take a simple catch. This saw De Kock became the fastest wicketkeeper to 150 wickets, one match ahead of Adam Gilchrist in second who reached the milestone in 36 Tests.
Angelo Mathews went on to score his 29th half-century as Sri Lanka continued to bury the Proteas.
Sri Lanka (second innings) 218-4 – Dimuth Karunaratne 86*, Danushka Gunathilaka 61, Angelo Mathews 52, Keshav Maharaj 2-134, Lungi Ngidi 1-7
Sri Lanka lead by 451 runs.
Photo: CSA/Twitter
