South Africa v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758: 2nd Test at Durban, Day-2 – Second Session Recap
In reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 338, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 reached 100 for three at tea on the second day of the Durban Test on Tuesday, December 27, 2011.
The first two sessions of the second day had all the drama; wickets, runs and excitement. Just before lunch on day two, the visiting Islanders, thanks to Thilan Samaraweera’s brilliant hundred, piled on the runs before they were bowled out just before the
break.
The South African openers had a few overs to bat out before lunch and were naturally cautious, as they finished on 15 without any loss before lunch on Day 2. On the resumption of play, the Proteas lost their concentration.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HM-Amla-c1557, to the crease.
Sri Lanka was not content with the solitary wicket and piled on the pressure on South Africa, especially http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473, who returned to the pavilion after scoring just 15 runs. The mainstay of the South African
batting line-up http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JH-Kallis-c1692, was the next batsman out, he did not trouble the scorers.
South Africa was put on the back-foot but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Allan-Robert-Border-c43726 de Villier steadied the ship for the home side. They brought back normalcy to the proceedings, and started scoring runs.
The two right-handed batsmen played positive cricket, punishing every poor delivery. Amla – in particular – was a treat to watch, as he hammered the Island bowlers all over the park with his quality strokes.
At the end of the post lunch session, the two batsmen had taken the South African score to 100 for the loss 3 wickets.
At the end of the session, Amla and de Villiers were batting on 52 and 23 runs respectively. Welegedara took two wickets while Perera had one wicket to his name.
The home side is in a good position, but there is still a long way to go. Both teams are aiming to finish this calendar year on a winning note.
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