NEWS
Follow UsSri Lanka’s chances of making it to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) took a huge hit as they suffered a mammoth 233-run loss at the hands of South Africa in the first Test in Durban on November 30 (Saturday).
Reflecting on the defeat, Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva reckoned that his side lost the contest in the first innings of the Test - both with bat and ball.
First, after winning the toss and opting to bowl, Sri Lanka let South Africa score 191 in brutal conditions despite having them reeling at 117/7 at one stage. Then, in response, they were bundled out for 42, their lowest ever total in Tests.
"We lost the grip when we batted in the first innings. We bowled well but Temba took the game away from us. All about the first innings, even our bowling and batting,” de Silva said after the game.
“We had to bowl well and get the opposition out. 80 for 4 and we could have bowled well to keep them to 120 or 150.”
That Sri Lanka were bowled out for 42 was thanks to an outrageous spell from Marco Jansen, who took just 6.5 overs to register figures of 7/13. De Silva said that the tourists were taken aback by Jansen’s spell since it all happened in a flash.
“We didn't have time to read Jansen. We hadn't had anything to think about, just 12 overs for 42 runs. Had better plans in the second innings,” he said.
“In the past we know we have batted well in these conditions, we didn't bat well in the first innings and the match got away from us."
Meanwhile, winning skipper Temba Bavuma said that despite struggling in the first innings, he knew that his side could trouble Sri Lanka if they scraped to a par total.
“We were in a tough position, knew we had to dig deep. We spoke about getting in a comfortable position and were able to do so. Got a good partnership in the first innings and that helped. We saw how the wicket was playing and the conditions were favourable for seamers. We were confident that if they could put us in trouble, we could do so,” Bavuma said.
Thanks to the victory, South Africa are three wins away from guaranteeing themselves a spot in the WTC Final. On the back of the Durban win, they’ve surpassed Australia to move to second spot in the WTC standings. But Bavuma insisted that the team will not get ahead of itself, and will try to control the controllables.
“The conversation [about WTC] has been there, we are not too loud about it. It will come,” Bavuma said.
“Our focus needs to be more internally, what we have been doing as a team and control that, let whatever happens happen.”
ALSO READ: South Africa edge closer to WTC Final; jump to second on points table
The second Test will be played from December 5 at St George's Park in Gqeberha. The Proteas will move to top spot in the WTC standings if they win the second Test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha and India draw or lose the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Adelaide.
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