Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis all hit half-centuries against a depleted Sri Lankan bowling attack as the host nation fought back on the second day of the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday. Du Plessis, playing his first Test match since standing down as skipper, ended the day well with an unbeaten 55 (81 balls, 9 fours) - South Africa reaching stumps at 317/4. Debutant Luthu Sipamla making amends for a tough day one by finishing as the pick of the bowlers with four for 76, the Sri Lankans slipping from 340 for six overnight to 396 all out. But Sipamla finally got the ball to talk late on, removing the last three wickets for the addition of nine runs, including claiming two wickets in two balls - Sri Lanka all out in 96 overs. Not since their 2018/19 home series against Pakistan had they batted confidently and openers Markram and Elgar revived those fond old memories with a bold opening stand that lasted 28.4 overs.

Source: dna December 27, 2020 18:22 UTC