LIVE – Sri Lanka v South Africa – Test – Sri Lanka set a target of 450 – Match Update
Sri Lanka were all out for 279 runs in their second innings against South Africa in the second Test of the three match series at the Kingsmead, Durban in South Africa on Thursday, December 29, 2011.
The tourists have set an overall target of 450 runs for the opposition with almost two days of play still left. The highest fourth innings score to win a Test is 418 by West Indies against Australia back in 2003.
The Proteas will have to better that record in order to beat Sri Lanka and take a 2-0 lead in the series. They will have the confidence of doing so, as the team managed to score 414/4 against Australia in order to win a Test back in 2008.
Seven of the South African players playing against Sri Lanka were present in the game against the Kangaroos and five out of them were batsmen Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher.
On the other hand, Tillakaratne Dilshan and his men will look to defend the massive target they have set. Star batsman Kumar Sangakkara scored a fabulous century in the second innings, top scoring with 108. He was given a life when he was batting on three, but capitalised on the chance and went onto reach three figures.
Other than that, wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal, who was on his Test debut, made 54 runs in the innings. He managed to score a half-century in his first outing as well and will be hoping that his bowlers can capitalise.
Veteran batsman Thilan Samaraweera was the only other batsman to make an impression in the Sri Lankan second innings, as he contributed 43 runs to the total. He has silenced his critics by performing well on this tour.
South Africa’s Dale Steyn had a very good time with the ball, bagging another five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He was wicket-less in the first innings, but came back strongly this time around.
Other than that, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir bagged a couple of wickets each in the innings. The former could have had a few more wickets, but was unlucky at times. However, his effort helped the bowlers from the other end to attack the opposition.
Tags: