1st Test - South Africa XI vs AROSA Sri Lanka, Berea Park
The controversial test series gets underway. Sri Lanka win the toss and bat first. Hettiaratchi falls first, caught at gully off van der Bijl for 7. Captain Warnapura falls shortly after without scoring to leave the tourists 24/2. Aponso and De Silva have a partnership of 49 before Aponso is caught behind off Jefferies. Perera falls for a 2-ball duck, the second double-blow the Sri Lankans have suffered, slumping to 73/4. When van der Bijl gets his 3rd wicket with Bandula De Silva caught behind for a promising looking 41, it's 82/5 and the fears of a mismatch look like being well-founded.
But Sri Lanka have packed their batting line-up (keeper Goonatilleke, proud owner of a test 50, is batting at 9), and a 50-partnership off 90 balls between Fernando and Woutersz settles things down a bit. Fernando finally goes for 28, and the score is 141/6. Woutersz becomes the second Sri Lankan to miss out on a 50, giving van der Bijl another wicket and Jennings another catch behind the wicket as he goes for 44, the score now 164/7. Rice gets his 2nd wicket as Kaluperuma goes for 14, 183/8 and a competitive score some way off. But Goonatilleke finds good support from Opatha as they share a partnership worth 54 before Opatha gives Le Roux his first wicket, going for 18 with the score on 237/9. Goonatilleke farms the strike to finally get a Sri Lankan batsman over the 50-mark, and the keeper also takes the team total over 250. Ajit de Silva becomes the third tourist to get out without troubling the scorers, leaving Goonatilleke unbeaten on 53, with Sri Lanka 251 all out. Vince van der Bijl the pick of the attack with 4-76, and Jefferies, Rice and Le Roux each picking up 2.
Cook and Richards come out with 19 overs left in the first day. Cook never looks comfortable and gives new-ball bowler Fernando a first wicket when he chips to mid-wicket for a tortuous 9 from 32 balls. Richards is then controversially given out stumped off the bowling of Ajit de Silva, it looking as if he was behind the line before the bails were off, but perhaps nothing grounded... either way the local crowd were not happy to see their star cut down while he was looking dangerous: Richards gone for 23 and the Springboks 42/2. Kirsten goes early on the second morning for 14, so it's 71/3. Pollock and Rice share a solid 50-partnership, and the legendary left-hander brings up his own 50. Rice and Pollock fall in quick succession, and the score is 141/5 - the much-vaunted Springbok top-order failing to fire. Have they been softened up by isolation? Kourie dominates a partnership of 67 with Kuiper, before falling short of his own half-century as Bandula de Silva chips in with a wicket with his part-time mediums. Jennings makes 22, a pattern emerging of too many Springbok batsmen getting in but bot going on, but at 250/7 they've reached parity, Kuiper is well set and there are no rabbits in the team. Can they conjure up a match-winning lead? Kuiper goes through to 50, but can't find support from Le Roux who falls for just 7. Jefferies also doesn't last long, but van der Bijl helps Kuiper take the score up to 310 before the giant fast bowler is last man out for 16, the young all-rounder being 75*. Ajit de Silva is the ky bowler for the tourists, with 4/59, each of the other 6 bowlers used grabbing a single wicket.
Sri Lanka lose Hettiaratchi (0) and Warnapura (26) before the deficit is erased, but for the second time in the match opener Bandula de Silva holds the top order together, bringing up his 50 and sharing a vital 50 with Perera after Aponso is out for 16. De Silva bats throughout most of the 3rd day, shrugging off the loss of Perera (41, partnership 83), Woutersz (9), and Fernando (22) to bring up a quite brilliant 100 off 166 balls, including 13 boundaries. He is finally 7th man out for 119, with the score on 277 and a lead of 218. Kaluperuma looks like giving the tourists a potentially match-winning lead, but is controversially given out LBW 2 runs short of a deserved half-century despite having seemingly got an inside-edge on to his pad. When Goonatilleke goes for 6 the lead is 249 with 1 wicket left, and a day plus almost a whole session to go. But a mixture of sloppy fielding and wayward bowling allows Opatha and Ajit de Silva to add 40 for the last wicket, Sri Lanka dismissed for 348. Van der Bijl is again the best bowler, picking up 5/65.
An hour left on the penultimate evening and the Springboks need 290 to avoid an embarrassing defeat. They don't get through the hour unscathed, losing Cook caught behind off Opatha for 12 and Richards mistiming a cut to a Fernando bouncer and being caught in the covers to complete a miserable match for the opening pair.
The final day starts with South Africa needing 240 with 8 wickets left... most results still in play though with a scheduled 96 overs in the day a draw is probably unlikely barring the intervention of bad weather. The morning session is firmly Sri Lanka's with Pollock, Kirsten and Kuiper all out in the 20s as the Springboks slump to 109/5 and when Rice is smartly stumped by Goonatilleke off the bowling of Ajit de Silva for 33, the score is 134/6 and an upset is surely on the cards.
Jennings and Kourie see out the morning, and are looking well settled, but shortly after lunch Jennings is given out lbw to Fernando for 27. With replays suggesting the ball was going over the stumps, it looked a poor decision, but perhaps no worse than the one that dismissed Kaluperuma the previous evening. With the score 173/7, the Sri Lankans are surely favourites now. However, Kourie is still in and playing solidly, and he shares a vital 50 partnership with Le Roux, and passes his own half-century as the Springboks move within 56 of the target.
Still Kourie and Le Roux bat on, forcing the Sri Lankans to post more defensive fields in an attempt to frustrate them. The runs required are under 50, and if the South Africans stay patiently they will surely win. But Le Roux is finally tempted into hitting a big shot and can only find Kaluperuma at deep backward square leg, the bowler being Bandula de Silva enjoying a charmed match with bat and ball. Just 9 runs later, Opatha finds Kourie's outside edge and he's snaffled by Goonatilleke behind the wicket for 62. There's just one wicket left and still 34 to get.
But as shown in the first innings, neither Jefferies nor van der Bijl are mugs with the bat, and they slowly erode the lead... into the 20s... then the 10s... finally single figures left to get...
And then Jefferies overbalances to an Ajit de Silva ball, Goonatilleke whips off the bails in an instant, the finger goes up and AROSA Sri Lanka have won by 8 runs, a stunning victory that will send shockwaves throughout South African cricket.
AROSA Sri Lanka win by 8 runs and lead the 2-match series 1-0.
