PORT ELIZABETH: A succession of soft dismissals left Sri Lanka in danger of a big defeat on the fourth day of first Test at Port Elizabeth. In the pursuit of 488, visitors were at 240 for five with Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis were on the crease batting at identical 58 runs each.
Sri Lanka were left needing another 248 runs to pull off a victory on the fifth and final day of game after having lost half their side. In the history of Test cricket, no team has successfully chased more than 418 to win a Test match. For Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj scalped two wickets each.
At one stage it appeared as if another team from the subcontinent would be causing havoc in the opposition rank going into the final day while chasing an improbable total, but South Africa pulled things back in the final session to remain on course for a big win.
BRIEF SCORES: Sri Lanka 205 & 240/5 (Angelo Mathews 58*, Kusal Mendis 58; Kagiso Rabada 2-72) trail South Africa 286 & 406/6d (Stephen Cook 117, Quinton de Kock 69; Dhananjaya de Silva 2-91) by 247 runs.
DAY IV STATS AT A GLANCE
87: Runs added for the opening wicket by Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne. This is the best opening stand for Sri Lanka in Tests in South Africa beating the 70 added by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne in Cape Town.
196: Number of balls faced by Silva and Karunaratne in their partnership of 87. This is the fourth longest that any opening pair has played in the fourth innings of a Test in South Africa. Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten played 261 balls against Australia at Durban in 2002.
7: Number of fifty-plus scores for Quinton de Kock in 2016.This is the most by a South Africa batsman in 2016.
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