Kumar Sangakkara and skipper Angelo Mathews struck brisk half-centuries to help Sri Lanka set up a thrilling finale to the series-deciding second Test against South Africa yesterday.
Sangakkara (72) hit his 10th 50-plus score of the year, and Mathews chipped in with an unbeaten 63 as the hosts declared their second innings on 229-8 shortly before close of play to set the visitors an imposing target of 369.
At stumps on a rain-interrupted day four, South Africa were 38-1, needing 331 more runs off a minimum 98 overs to pull off a series-clinching win.
Photo: AFP
Quinton de Kock (21) and Dean Elgar (13) were the not out batsmen.
The hosts, who posted 421 in their first innings, had bowled out South Africa for 282 in their first innings to gain a 139-run lead.
South Africa lead the two-Test series 1-0 after winning the opener in Galle by 153 runs. Even a draw in this game will see the Proteas reclaim the world No. 1 ranking from Australia.
Photo: AFP
South Africa’s chase did not start the way they had hoped for as they lost their first wicket with just 6 runs on the board. Opener Alviro Petersen (0) failed for the second time in the game when he was caught off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who opened the bowling.
The Sri Lanka batsmen had started off confidently after rain interrupted play for an hour following the lunch break. Sangakkara unleashed his trademark silken pulls and drives to race to the 50-run mark with a boundary off leg-spinner Imran Tahir (2-76).
Just when he was looking good for a bigger score, he edged to wicketkeeper De Kock off Morne Morkel (4-45), bringing an end to his enterprising knock, which included eight hits to the fence.
Kithruwan Vithanage (7) was superbly caught by Faf du Plessis, who ran backward without taking his eyes off the ball and then dived forward to pluck it inches off the ground.
Test debutant Niroshan Dickwella top-edged to A.B. de Villiers off Dale Steyn (2-59), failing to capitalize on his first-innings performance of 72. Tahir bowled Dilruwan Perera, and Morkel sent back Rangana Herath, prompting skipper Mathews to declare the innings.
Earlier, Sri Lanka added a healthy 97 runs in the first session while losing their openers and the prolific Mahela Jayawardene.
Opener Upul Tharanga (30) looked in good nick, but he edged behind to the keeper while trying to drive Steyn in the morning’s sixth over.
Kaushal Silva welcomed Tahir (1-67) with a neat sweep to the fence in the bowler’s first over, setting the tone for the rest of the session, which saw the hosts score at a quick pace.
Silva had made 26 when he scooped a drive off Morkel, offering an easy catch to Vernon Philander at point.
Jayawardene, who cracked a solid 165 in the first innings, was out for a duck in a bizarre fashion off Tahir.
The stylish right-hander played the reverse sweep, but the ball popped up and Dean Elgar rushed across from short leg to pouch the ball before crashing into De Kock.
Jayawardene was given out, but he sought a review believing that the ball had not touched his glove. However, the decision of the on-field umpire was upheld and the batsman walked away shaking his head in disappointment.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier