Proteas thrash hapless Sri Lankans

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis congratulates Kagiso Rabada, who took the final Sri Lankan wicket to fall to secure victory at the Wanderers on Saturday. Photo: Themba Hadebe, AP

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis congratulates Kagiso Rabada, who took the final Sri Lankan wicket to fall to secure victory at the Wanderers on Saturday. Photo: Themba Hadebe, AP

Published Jan 14, 2017

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JOHANNESBURG – The Proteas’ pace bowling quartet claimed 16 wickets between them on day three to bowl their side to an innings and 118-run victory over Sri Lanka at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Sri Lanka lost 16 wickets in a day as South Africa's fast bowlers sent them crashing to defeat as the visitors were bowled out for 131 and 177 to hand the home side a 3-0 series whitewash.

In a dismal third day of the final Test for the tourists, Sri Lanka were able to add only 51 runs to their overnight first-innings total of 80/4, and seldom looked like providing sustained resistance in the second innings, despite a fighting 50 by opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne.

Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada both took three wickets in the first innings, while new cap Duanne Olivier and left-armer Wayne Parnell took two apiece. Parnell took four wickets in the second innings, Olivier three, Rabada two and Philander one.

The wickets where shared between all four pacemen, with the recalled Parnell taking six wickets in the match, while Olivier claimed five on debut.

Rabada finished the series with 19 wickets and Philander with 17, while the top-order batsmen did a repeat of the previous series in Australia, with five different players scoring centuries. One of them, Dean Elgar, finished as the leading run-scorer in the series (308 at 61.60) to be named the Player of the Series.

JP Duminy was chosen as the Man of the Match for his innings of 155, which contributed to the 292-run partnership with Hashim Amla (who scored 134 in his 100th Test) to set up the platform from which the bowlers were able to strike for victory.

A feature of the final day’s play was the catching of the home side, with Duminy and Faf du Plessis both pulling off brilliant efforts.

Dimuth Karunaratne delayed the inevitable with a half-century in the second innings, and was one of only three half-centuries that Sri Lanka made in the series, such was the dominance of the South African bowlers.

Cricket South Africa, AFP

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