South Africa climbed to the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, damaging the Sanath Jayasuriya-coached side's aspirations of qualifying for the WTC final with a 109-run win over Sri Lanka in St George's Park on Monday. The victory secured a dominant 2-0 victory for the Proteas, who dethroned WTC table toppers Australia to claim top spot. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are now at fourth position in the race for a spot in the final and will play Australia in a two-match Test series in January. Sri Lanka went into this match with a point to prove, especially after a crushing defeat of 233 runs in the first Test in Durban where they were bowled out for a record low 42 in the first innings. After winning the toss, South Africa opted to bat first but found themselves in early trouble before captain Temba Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton steadied the ship with a vital 133-run partnership.
Rickelton reached a well-deserved century but was dismissed shortly afterwards as South Africa ended Day 1 at 269/7. They resumed Day 2 with wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne, unbeaten on 48, guiding Proteas to a total of 358. Verreynne reached an important milestone, securing his third Test century.
Sri Lanka showed resilience with the bat to end Day 2 at 242/3, led by Pathum Nissanka's gritty 89. On Day 3, Sri Lanka started strongly but their momentum was halted when Dane Paterson struck with the new ball to claim his first five. -to bowl out Sri Lanka for 328.
South Africa continued to build their 30-point lead to end Day 3 at 191/3, maintaining a strong position in the match. Tristan Stubbs and Temba Bavuma added 104 runs before valuable contributions from David Bedingham and the lower order took them to a total of 317. Jayasuriya capped off an excellent performance by completing his five-wicket haul.
Heading into the final day of the second Test, the match was perfectly poised as Sri Lanka needed 143 runs to level the series, while South Africa were just five wickets away from a clean sweep.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis, both unbeaten on 39 at the end of Day 4, were dismissed early on the final day of the Test match. Kusal Mendis was caught for 46, leaving behind a delivery from Maharaj that was brilliantly taken by Aiden Markram.
De Silva, who had just reached his half-century, was sent back soon afterwards, tapping a ball from Rabada straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.
Keshav Maharaj completed his five-wicket haul with wickets of Prabath Jayasuriya and Vishwa Fernando before Marco Jansen secured victory for the Proteas on the final day.
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