Cricket: Sri Lanka left battered by pace
Philander bowls South Africa to an innings-win in 1st Test.
CENTURION:
Vernon Philander starred with a 10-wicket match haul as South Africa stormed to victory by an innings and 81 runs on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka crashed to 150 all out in their second-innings, with Philander taking five for 49 following up on his five-wicket haul in the first-innings. The visitors could not cope with South Africa’s pace attack, losing their first six wickets for just 70.
Only some desperate late-order hitting enabled them to reach their eventual total.
Philander was delighted with his match-winning performance.
“I have been trying to keep things simple and it’s working wonders,” he said. “I like to hit the right length and that has played a big part in my success.”
Sri Lanka captain Tillekaratne Dilshan was a downcast man after his team’s wretched show.
“It is definitely disappointing,” he said. “We recovered from a poor start on the first day, but it didn’t work out. Hopefully our batting unit can still come together and do the job in the rest of the series.”
Earlier, South Africa were bowled out for 411 with Mark Boucher (65) and Imran Tahir (29) extending their last-wicket stand to 61.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 18th, 2011.
Vernon Philander starred with a 10-wicket match haul as South Africa stormed to victory by an innings and 81 runs on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka crashed to 150 all out in their second-innings, with Philander taking five for 49 following up on his five-wicket haul in the first-innings. The visitors could not cope with South Africa’s pace attack, losing their first six wickets for just 70.
Only some desperate late-order hitting enabled them to reach their eventual total.
Philander was delighted with his match-winning performance.
“I have been trying to keep things simple and it’s working wonders,” he said. “I like to hit the right length and that has played a big part in my success.”
Sri Lanka captain Tillekaratne Dilshan was a downcast man after his team’s wretched show.
“It is definitely disappointing,” he said. “We recovered from a poor start on the first day, but it didn’t work out. Hopefully our batting unit can still come together and do the job in the rest of the series.”
Earlier, South Africa were bowled out for 411 with Mark Boucher (65) and Imran Tahir (29) extending their last-wicket stand to 61.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 18th, 2011.