MONDAY, 5.30PM:
SOUTH African cricket captain Hansie Cronje blitzed his way to the second-fastest 50 in Test cricket history, facing only 31 deliveries, to steer South Africa to a sensational six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second cricket Test at Centurion Park on Monday.
Cronje needed only 14 scoring shots to reach his half century, and hit five sixes and four fours off offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan to fall just one short of Kapil Dev’s 30-ball world record mark set against Pakistan in Karachi in 1982/83.
Gary Kirsten propped up the other end with a solid, unbeaten 75, and the South Africans had the Test in the bag in just 62,5 overs.
Kirsten and new cap Gerhardus Liebenberg got the South Africans off to a positive 89-run start, but Cronje entered the fray when the Proteas were rocky on 99/3.
The next 70 minutes, however, saw a stunning transition with Cronje, after picking up two singles, signalling his intent by smacking successive Muralidharan deliveries for four and six.
After the initial flurry there was no stopping Cronje and he raced to his half-century in 70 minutes.
When finally caught in the deep by De Silva for 82, eight fours and three sixes later, the gutsy skipper had taken his side to within 11 runs of victory.
The man-of-the-match award went to paceman Allan Donald, who picked up 5/54 — his 11th five-wicket haul in 42 Tests.
MONDAY, 2.30PM:
HAVING to score 226 for victory, South Africa were well placed on 58 without loss in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day of the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka at Centurion Park on Monday.
With just 168 runs needed, the home side appear well on their way to a comfortable win … and it would be a rather remarkable one at that. Since returning to the international arena some seven years ago, the South Africans haven’t actually bettered 200 in a final innings to win a Test.
The last time they did the trick was when Jack Cheetham’s side beat Burt Sutcliffe’s Kiwis in Port Elizabeth in 1953/54. Chasing 211, Cheetham’s men scored 215/5.
New cap Gerhardus Liebenberg scored his first Test runs via a four off Nuwan Zoysa, but was almost picked up by Hashan Tillikeratne in the gully.
Apart from the one error, both Liebenberg (32) and Gary Kirsten (21) made no mistakes and this was mirrored in their posting the 50 in 122 balls; both hit four boundaries.
MONDAY, 12.30PM:
SOUTH African scorcher Allan Donald used the new ball to devastating effect, picking up another two more wickets first thing Monday morning to send Sri Lanka crashing to 122 in their second innings of the second Test at Centurion Park.
It took Donald, who finished up with 5/54 — his 11th five wicket haul in 42 Tests — and spinner Paul Adams, who bowled Promodaya Wickramasinghe for 21, just 27 minutes and 6,3 overs to wrap up the Lankan innings.
The tourists could only manage three runs better than their all-time innings low against South Africa — 119 in Colombo — to set the home side a victory target of 226.
MONDAY, 10.00AM:
ALLAN DONALD captured his 200th Test wicket at Centurion Park on Sunday, an effort that put his team in a position to win the second Test against Sri Lanka.
After being bowled out for 200 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 303 first-innings total, the South Africans climbed into the Sri lankan batting with a vengeance, leaving them reeling at 97/3 at stumps on the third day.
Donald, who was struggling on Friday and Saturday, pulled through on Sunday and produced a spell of devastating proportions. He picked up the wickets of Sanath Jayasuriya (16), who pulled a ball onto his stumps; Roshan Mahanama (lbw) (0); and Marvan Attapattu (7), caught behind.
South African skipper Hansie Cronje replaced Donald and struck virtually immediately when he got the wicket of his Sri Lankan counterpart, Arjuna Ranatunga, without the Lankan scoring. Cronje picked up Hashan Tillekeratne (0) two overs later. By the time Derek Crookes ran out Romesh Kalawithurana for a duck the Lankans had lost four wickets for two runs in 29 balls, and were 42/6.
The final wicket to fall before stumps was that of Aravinda de Silva, who was run out for 41 runs by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.
Allan Donald will try to make inroads into the Sri Lankan tail early on Monday, and the new ball should do the trick.
The South African batsmen can expect a hard time against Lankan spin sensation Muttiah Muralitharan, who will no doubt spin the ball even more on the four-day-old track than he did in the South Africans’ first innings.
Sri Lanka have an overall lead of 196, with three second-innings wickets in hand.
Scoreboard on the fourth day of the second cricket Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Centurion Park on Monday:
Sri Lanka, first innings 303
South Africa, first innings 200
Sri Lanka, second innings (93/7 wkts over)
S Jayasuriya b Donald 16 (30m 21b 3×4)
M Atapattu c Boucher b Donald 7 (56m 34b)
R Mahanama lbw Donald 0 (1m 1b)
A De Silva run out (Boucher) 41 (99m 74b 6×4 1×6)
A Ranatunga c Boucher b Cronje 0 (10m 7b)
H Tillakaratne c sub (Crookes) b Cronje 0 (8m 3b)
R Kaluwitharana run out (Crookes) 0 (5m 3b)
P Wickramasinghe b Adams 21 (74m 59b 4×4)
N Zoysa c Boucher b Donald 14 (41m 35b 1×4)
M Muralidharan c Kirsten b Donald 15 (20m 11b 2×4)
R Puskpakumara not out 0 (2m 0b)
Extras (5lb 3nb) 8
Total (all out) 122 — 41,3 overs (179 mins)
Fall of wickets: 1/19 2/19 3/40 4/40 5/42 6/42 7/85 8/98 9/118
Bowling: Donald 13,3-2-54-5 (1nb), Ntini 6-2-13-0 (1nb), Kallis 7-3-12-0 (1nb), Cronje 8-3-13-2, Adams 7-1-25-1
South Africa, second innings:
G Kirsten not out 75 (233m 203b 13×4)
G Liebenberg lbw Muralidharan 45 (120m 89b 7×4)
H Ackerman b Muralidharan 2 (24m 24b)
D Cullinan lbw Muralidharan 0 (6m 3b)
H Cronje c A De Silva b Jayasuriya 82 (70m 62b 8×4 6×6)
J Kallis not out 0 (9m 7b)
Extras (8b 3lb 11nb) 22
Total (for 4 wkts) 226 — 62,5 overs 233 mins
Fall of wickets: 1/89 2/99 3/99 4/215
Bowling: Pushpakumara 7-2-27-0 (3nb), Zoysa 2-0-11-0, Wickramasinghe 6-1-7-0, A De Silva 5-1-14-0 (2nb), Muralitharan 23,5-4-94-3 (6nb), Jayasuriya 19-6-62-1.
Result: South Africa win by six wickets
Series result: SA win 2-0
Man-of the match: Allan Donald (SA)
Man of the series: Daryll Cullinan (SA)
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