South Africa celebrate after going 1-0 up in the series

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

South Africa drew first blood in their summer at home as they crushed Sri Lanka by 206 runs on the final day of the first Test in Port Elizabeth.

The Proteas just needed just 13.3 overs to take the five wickets they needed for victory and will now be brimming with confidence going into the second Test in Cape Town.

Starting off the day on 240/5, Sri Lanka only managed to add six runs to their overnight score before captain Angelo Mathews was given out lbw off the bowling of Kyle Abbott for 59, which came off 120 balls and included seven boundaries.

This sparked the beginning of Sri Lanka’s collapse as Dhananjaya de Silva became Abbott’s second victim of the day after having made 22.

Vernon Philander joined the party by dismissing Rangana Herath for three runs before Kagiso Rabada sent Dushmantha Chameera packing after having him caught behind for a duck.

Keshav Maharaj put the final nail in the coffin for the tourists as he clean bowled Nuwan Pradeep for four runs to seal South Africa’s victory.

Maharaj and Rabada picked up three wickets apiece, while Abbott snapped up two and Philander claimed one.

Mathews was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said: “I thought the bowlers did pretty well but it was hard work for the batters. If we can bat well from the beginning then we don’t have to fight back. We’ve only got a couple of days to regroup. We’ll try our best to start well in the second Test. We know we are up against a good-quality side. There were lots of positives but not enough for win.”

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was thrilled to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “We had to toil for this one. But from day one we played some good cricket, very happy with how the game went. Last six months has gone very well. Everything went exactly [how] we would have liked. The wicket was green and we got a hundred stand. Thought we could have got 50 more, but to get an 80 lead was a fantastic effort.

“Boys worked hard yesterday but got their rewards today. We thought reverse [swing] may come into play, but the grass left on meant the ball never really scuffed up. The bowlers were relentless on their line and length. This seam attack, time and time again, has proven they can do it with three bowlers. Puts a lot of emphasis on the spinner, too, and Keshav has been doing a really good job. I feel like as a team were are at about 80% so hopefully we can get better as a batting unit.”

South Africa opening batsman Stephen Cook was named Man of the Match for scoring 59 and a career-best 117, and said: “It’s gone well the last couple of games. You know you will go through tough times. Wanted to make it count in the second innings. Nice to have the family around.”