A raging South African pace pack removed Sri Lanka for their lowest Test total, which was also the lowest at Kingsmead. The lowest Test score ever by a team against South Africa was 42, as Marco Jansen took a career-best seven for 13 in 41 balls. South Africa took a 149-run advantage in the first innings after their collapse.
With 30 minutes remaining in the second session, South Africa resumed batting, and their openers added 28 runs in six overs to increase the lead to 177.
A combination of poor shot selection and incisive bowling that left movement available far into the second day contributed to Sri Lanka's misfortunes. Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, and Dhananjaya de Silva were among the top seven players who may have departed the game.
When Dimuth Karunatratne edged to David Bedingham at first slip after hanging his bat out to a length delivery outside off, Kagiso Rabada initiated the slide. Nissanka reached for a ball he could have left when Jansen pulled him forward four balls later. It was the third slip that caught him. When he left a bat-pad space that a Jansen delivery sneaked through to bowl him two overs later, Dinesh Chandimal showed dubious defense. When Mathews swatted at a ball that angled away and edged to Bedingham, his experience also failed him. At the end of the eighth over, Sri Lanka was 16 for 4.
When Dimuth Karunatratne edged to David Bedingham at first slip after hanging his bat out to a length delivery outside off, Kagiso Rabada initiated the slide. Nissanka reached for a ball he could have left when Jansen pulled him forward four balls later. It was the third slip that caught him. When he left a bat-pad space that a Jansen delivery sneaked through to bowl him two overs later, Dinesh Chandimal showed dubious defense. When Mathews swatted at a ball that angled away and edged to Bedingham, his experience also failed him. At the end of the eighth over, Sri Lanka was 16 for 4.
Gerald Coetzee replaced Rabada as the only bowling change in South Africa's first match, which turned out to be the only one. Kamindu drove a full toss for four to begin with. Kamindu tried to hammer Coetzee over the covers with a powerful shot, but he edged to first slip, and Coetzee soon had his reward.
Jansen achieved his second Test five-for with two wickets in his sixth over. In the first, de Silva was bowled after missing a drive, while in the second, Prabath Jayasuriya was kept off balance and nudged to Stubbs in the slips. In his final over, Jansen doubled once again to conclude the innings 78 minutes after it started after Coetzee took the eighth of the following ball, an LBW affirmed on review. South Africa's first innings of 191 seemed considerably larger than it actually felt at lunchtime when Sri Lanka was knocked out in 14 overs.
In their first innings at Kingsmead, South Africa fell nine short of 200 after earlier rallying from 117 for 7, which may have been their lowest score against Sri Lanka at home (126). Theoretically, batting conditions should have been easier due to the beautiful sky and sunshine, but Sri Lanka's outstanding attack took 6 for 111 in the morning session and will believe they have given their team the advantage.
Lahiru Kumara led Sri Lanka with a good pace, finishing with 3 for 70 while maintaining speeds in the 140s. Asitha and Vishwa Fernando loved playing on a surface with good bounce and carry-found movement and shared five wickets between them. Despite three lower-order partnerships in the 20s, Sri Lanka dominated the morning session because of their excellent catching in windy circumstances.
After missing two months due to an elbow injury, Temba Bavuma made a strong recovery, scoring his 22nd Test fifty and keeping South Africa together. He may have been able to expand on what was a strong knock with more help, since his stroke play especially his drives did not indicate that he had not participated in a competitive match in nearly eight weeks.
On a rain-soaked first day, when only 20.4 overs were feasible, Vishwa continued his work and discovered early movement. Replays revealed an inside edge, but he appealed for a leg before wicket against Kyle Verreynne's second ball. Kumara hit a ball at 141 kph that beat Verreynne and banged him on the front pad after he had only to face three more balls. Although it initially appeared that the impact might have occurred outside the line, Verreynne left without speaking to Bavuma. He was out anyhow, according to replays.
Wiaan Mulder inside-edged onto his pad three balls later, wasting a review, but Sri Lanka's problems were far from over. When he attempted to defend a ball that sneaked back in during Kumara's subsequent over, he lost his right hand. Despite having trouble gripping the bat, he attempted to continue after receiving treatment on the field. He gripped his hand in agony, kept out the next ball he faced, left the final ball of the over, and then retired injured. He batted again in the session but will be taken for an x-ray during the lunch break.
Marco Jansen's first runs came when he smashed Kumara wide of fourth slip after clipping a Vishwa full toss off his legs for four. Bavuma forced Kumara through the covers for four, ending his superb first-morning performance. His statistics were 8-1-51-3.
With Asitha taking Kumara's place and Jayasuriya's spin replacing Vishwa, Sri Lanka made a double change. By hitting Jansen on the pad in front of the leg stump after he missed a tossed-up delivery, Jayasuriya was successful with his tenth ball. He did a poor job of reviewing. One that was put up also attracted Gerald Coetzee, who carelessly hit Jayasuriya to deep mid-wicket, where Kamindu rushed forward to make a good catch. At that point, with no actual batting to come, South Africa had lost 3 for 34 in 9.1 overs.
After four consecutive Test ducks, Keshav Maharaj joined Bavuma and scored his highest Test score in nine innings. He put up a fight against Jayasuriya, hitting him for 15 runs, including a spectacular six, straight down the ground in his fourth over. Maharaj did not control his instincts when Vishwa replaced Jayasuriya; he rushed for a wide ball and hit it upwards to Dhananjaya de Silva at mid-off.
Bavuma, who had recently turned fifty, decided to handle things himself as he was running out of partners. Before driving Kumara into further cover and back past him for four more, he got off his feet to ramp him for six. When Asitha replaced Kumara and Bavuma swiped across the line, he top-edged to midwicket, where Kumara made a good catch against the wind.
The pleasure did not continue long. Bavuma was the ninth wicket to fall, therefore the session was extended by 30 minutes even though he was bowled just before the planned lunch break. Rabada hooked Asitha to a deep backward square after just 17 minutes of Sri Lankan time.