South Africa vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Live | SA vs SL 1st Test Day 3 Live Scores & Commentary

19 wickets to fall in the day and the shortest Test innings in terms of overs faced in 100 years. We have had an unreal day of Test cricket. South Africa started at 80/4 and they were done for 191 with Bavuma making a fine 70. What followed was just carnage. Read this right: Sri Lanka bowled out for 42 in 13.5 overs.
Wednesday's action seems like a T10 game. bowled in a day where 90 are allotted one can just imagine the time that was lost. Still in that period Sri Lanka gave a good account of themselves and how eager they are to grab the chance to reach the World Test Championship final in 2025. But even for that to happen matches over the next few months need to have results and for that play needs to happen. After a gloomy opening day will Thursday be better? Let's hope that we get a good amount of cricketing action on Day 2.
It is important to revisit the memorable moments for the tourists. Durban is a happy hunting ground for the Dhananjaya de Silva-led unit. They haven't lost a single Test at this venue. They have won twice and drawn once while playing three matches at the Kingsmead. Over that Sri Lanka are the first and only Asian side to win a Test series in South Africa which they achieved in 2019. Kusal Perera's heroics meant Sri Lanka won in Durban with a wicket in hand.
Followed by an eight-wicket triumph at St George's Park as they clean-swept the two-match assignment. Seven players from that miraculous series are part of the current squad. This series is key for both teams as a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final is at stake. Sri Lanka are third on the table with a win percentage of 55.56 while South Africa are fifth with a win percentage of 54.17. India at the top. Iqbal Sports Live. Crictalks Live.
Australia in second and New Zealand in fourth are the other three contenders to make it to the grand final. South Africa's regular Test skipper Temba Bavuma has recovered from a left elbow injury that kept him out of the recent Bangladesh tour. Bavuma cleared the fitness test on November 18 and will lead the hosts. He hasn't played for the Rainbow Nation since October 4 when he injured himself during an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi. Km Punk Live.
In Bavuma's absence opener Aiden Markram led the Proteas to a famous 2-0 series win in Bangladesh. All-rounder Marco Jansen and pacer Gerald Coetzee return to the Test squad for the first time since the series against India last summer. The rest of the team has familiar faces who recently travelled to Bangladesh. Lungi Ngidi Dane Piedt Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis miss out with Jansen Coetzee and Bavuma getting back in the 14-man set-up.
The scans have revealed that Ngidi has bilateral proximal adductor tendinopathy and the pacer will not return to cricket in 2024. Dhananjaya de Silva-led Sri Lanka have been performing their best in red-ball cricket recently. They last appeared in whites in a two-match series against New Zealand back home and whitewashed the visitors. Previously the Lankan Lions also beat England at the Oval in the third Test despite losing the three-match series. By The Way Live.
Seamer Kasun Rajitha and left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya are part of the Sri Lankan squad which consists of 17 players. The duo replace Ramesh Mendis and Jeffrey Vandersay from the previous assignment. Rajitha was not part of the team at home in the recently concluded New Zealand series. He was in the squad for the England tour but didn't play a single game. The right-arm pacer last played a Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet earlier this year.
Rajitha was also part of the historic 2-0 series win in South Africa where he was the second-highest wicket-taker in the series with nine scalps behind his compatriot Vishwa Fernando who had grabbed 12 wickets. Embuldeniya hasn't played a Test in the Lankan whites since 2022. The last time he played in the red-ball format for his country was against Australia in Galle and he went wicketless. The rest of the squad has the regulars in with the eyes on Kamindu Mendis.
He has been in exponential form in the purest format of the game raising a level higher each time steps onto field. Bavuma said the hosts haven't asked for a green top surface. However the Kingsmead pitch will have pace and bounce expected to slow down as the Test match progresses. Can Sri Lanka continue their impressive run longest format and replicate the heroics of 2019? Will South Africa make most of the home conditions and begin the series on a high?