Tough task awaits, but SA eyes are on prize

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Colombo

Ninety-eight overs is a long time in test cricket, especially on the last day of a match in which the opposition have picked their bowlers well, and when you need only a draw to clinch the series.

That is SA’s challenge going into the last day of the second test against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo today.

The visitors reached yesterday’s enforced close on 38/1. The 331 more runs SA will need to win today is even further away than the minimum of 98 overs they will have to face to escape with a draw.

What of the bad light and rain that took 35.1 overs out of yesterday’s play? Today’s forecast is largely clear.

The task, then, is as tough as it gets. But incentives do not come bigger for Hashim Amla’s team. If they do not lose today they will become the first SA side to claim both the test and one-day series on a tour to Sri Lanka. However, trying not to lose can be more difficult than attempting to win.

“The more negative you become, the more defensively you play and it also tires you out,” Kumar Sangakkara said. “We’ll try to have as many fielders around the bat to make sure they play as defensively as possible.”

Not that SA had taken their eye off the ultimate prize.

“Sri Lanka have played most of the cricket in this test, but we are in the fight,” AB de Villiers said. “We’re in with a shout; more hard work and we’ll reassess at tea.”

An indication that SA still harboured hopes of victory came with Quinton de Kock’s promotion to No. 3. He was 21 not out and looking good at the early close.

“He’s a positive player and he bats up the order at home (in domestic cricket),” De Villiers said.

Sri Lanka built their lead to 368 before declaring with 38 overs scheduled to be bowled, only 17 materialised because of the weather.

Enterprising batting by Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews kept the home side going forward, and their stand of 81 was a double-edged sword that gleamed with attacking intent.

Unlike in the first innings, when he succumbed first ball, Sangakkara kept his head and his wicket to score 72. Mathews saw the job through to the end, reaching 63 not out before calling a halt to his team’s innings.

What with a match and a series in the balance, it is not the time for individual celebrations. But Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will be quietly chuffed with what they achieved yesterday.

Steyn’s two scalps took him to 374 career wickets and past Waqar Younis as test cricket’s 15th highest wicket-taker.

Morkel’s bag of 4/45 earned him his 200th wicket in his 58th test. Among South Africans, only Steyn, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini have got there faster. Add Jacques Kallis to that list and Morkel is the sixth SA bowler to take 200 wickets.

“I play in a lot of teams around the world and I know what people say about him,” De Villiers said. “They’re quite scared of Morne Morkel. In the nets, he’s the worst bowler to face.”

Both Steyn and Morkel showed the form that helped SA win the first test in Galle last Sunday, Steyn with aggression and swing and Morkel with bounce and accuracy.

But this match is Sri Lanka’s for the winning. Whatever the war talk, most of SA’s focus will be on survival.