PORT ELIZABETH: Opener Stephen Cook's third Test hundred on the third day of Boxing Day Test here at St George's Park put host in complete command as South Africa were 351 for five.

For host, Cook cracked an impressive 117, while his opening partner Dean Elgar compiled a fifty to extend the lead of 432 at stumps. Home team still have two more days in the test as there are no signs of the declaration and are very unlikely to come overnight.

On the third day, home team dominated the day, courtesy Cook’s century stands for the first and second wicket with Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla.

Besides, wicket-keeper and lower order batsman Quinton de Kock (42 runs off 51 balls) and skipper Faf du Plessis (41 runs off 55 balls) also joined the bandwagon and scored runs at brisk pace. Duo went on to add an unbroken 74 for the sixth wicket, at 4.82 per over, reinforcing South Africa's hold on the Test match.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva scalped two wickets conceding 74 runs in his 13 overs, while rest of the bowlers failed to put any pressure on opposition batsmen.

Earlier in the morning session, home team dominated right from the start of play, taking only 7.5 overs to wrap up Sri Lanka's lower order, with Vernon Philander completing his 11th Test-match five-for, and gain an 81-run first-innings lead.

BRIEF SCORES: South Africa 286 and 351 for 5 (Cook 117, Elgar 52) lead Sri Lanka 205 (De Silva 43, Philander 5-45) by 432 runs.

DAY III STATS AT A GLANCE

10K LBW SCALP: Nuwan Pradeep dismissed Amla with the last ball before tea, making him the 10,000th lbw victim in Test history.

49.90: Hashim Amla's current average. This is the first time his average has dropped below 50 since November 2012.

3: Opener Stephen Cook scored three ton this year, the most by a South Africa batsman in 2016. Hashim Amla, Faf Du Plessis and Quinton de Kock have two hundreds each.