Marco Jansen took 11 wickets in the match as South Africa comfortably beat Sri Lanka in the first Test in Durban by 233 runs.
Jansen finished with match figures of 11-86 – the second best in Test history in Durban – as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 282 to hand South Africa a fourth straight Test win and keep up hopes of a place in the 2025 World Test Championship final.
The 24-year-old achieved a double-figure haul in a Test match for the first time, including the final two wickets in Sri Lanka’s second innings to follow up the seven he claimed as South Africa skittled the tourists in the first innings for their lowest Test score of 42.
That came in reply to South Africa’s first innings total of 191 and second-inning centuries from skipper Temba Bavuma (113) and Tristan Stubbs (122) put the hosts in command as they declared on 366-5.
That left Sri Lanka a gargantuan winning target of 516 and South Africa then made the task pretty much impossible by taking five wickets before stumps on Friday.
Sri Lanka did offer stubborn resistance in the opening 90 minutes of the play on day four with Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya da Silva both scoring half-centuries to hold off the home bowlers.
The pair took the overnight tally from 103-5 to 196 in a display of confident batting before captain Da Silva chipped a slower delivery from spinner Keshav Maharaj to Stubbs at midwicket.
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Da Silva scored a brisk 59 off 81 balls to frustrate home hopes of wrapping up the result early but gave away his wicket surprisingly easily before launch.
At the other end, Chandimal took his tally from 29 overnight to 69 not out at lunch, but South Africa found the breakthrough soon after as a delivery from Gerald Coetzee caught the side of his bat, and the bowler adjusted well to make the catch, dismissing Sri Lanka’s No 3 batter for 83.
After that the final three wickets quickly followed as Vishwa Fernando lasted only five balls before a healthy edge off Maharaj saw him depart and then the dangerous Kusal Mendes was caught behind off Jansen for 48.
The final ball saw the match brought to an appropriately fantastic finish by Jansen as he clanked Asitha Fernando’s middle stump in dramatic fashion, meaning South Africa can claim victory in the series as long as they avoid defeat in the second Test.
“I never thought I would get 10 wickets. It is every bowler’s dream and that is what we work for,” said Jansen.
“I’m just glad it happened. The second innings we felt the pitch was low and slow and a lot more flatter but getting 11 wickets is a dream and it’s [certainly] going to be tough to beat.”
Victory for South Africa followed Test success over West Indies in Guyana in August and Bangladesh in a two-Test series in October.
South Africa will have a strong chance of competing in the WTC final at Lords in June if they win the second Test against Sri Lanka and then two Tests versus Pakistan at home at the end of the year and in early January.
The second Test against Sri Lanka starts in Gqeberha on Thursday.
Watch the second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Gqeberha, from 7.30am on Thursday morning, live on Sky Sports Cricket
