Early wickets boost Sri Lanka

mahelajayawardeneniroshandickwella

The hosts, who are looking to level the two-match series at 1-1, resumed at 305-5 and added a further 116 runs to their total before being dismissed for 421.

Fresh from making his 34th Test century on Thursday, Mahela Jayawardene contributed a further 25 runs on his way to a superb 165, while debutant wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella added a fine knock of 72.

Sri Lanka then made light work of South Africa's top three batsmen as the tourists lost Alviro Petersen (two), Dean Elgar (one) and Faf du Plessis (36), before closing day two 324 runs adrift.

Jayawardene - whose innings included 17 fours and a six - was the only Sri Lankan casualty of the morning session when he was run out by a direct hit from Petersen when attempting to come back for a second.

Sri Lanka reached 395-6 by lunch, thanks largely to the efforts of Dickwella who added valuable runs to the scoreboard.

However, Perera (12) fell soon after the resumption of play and when Dickweller was also run out, the rest of the tail was soon swept up.

South Africa were keen to make a dent in Sri Lanka's healthy lead but the spin duo of Rangana Herath (1-16) and Dilruwan Perera (1-24) struck two early blows before tea.

Petersen was the first to fall when he was caught and bowled by Herath, while Elgar was bamboozled by Perera's delivery and an inside edge landed kindly in the hands of Kaushal Silva at short leg.

Du Plessis battled bravely against the spin before falling to Suranga Lakmal (1-16) thanks to an incredible catch from the excellent Dickweller.

The only frustration for Sri Lanka was the brave resistance of opposing skipper Hashim Amla (46 not out) and AB De Villiers (11 not out), with South Africa eyeing a first series win in Sri Lanka since 1993.

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