South Africa in a strong position to defeat Sri Lanka in 1st test with centuries from Stubbs and Bavuma

South Africa was on the brink of victory in the first cricket test against Sri Lanka, with just five wickets needed to seal the win. This came after impressive centuries by Tristan Stubbs and captain Temba Bavuma at Kingsmead on Friday.

Set a massive target of 516 runs to win, Sri Lanka was a dismal 103-5 and running out of recognised batters in the fading light at stumps on day three.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

South Africa pressed home its advantage after starting the day with a 281-run lead.

Fourth-wicket partners Stubbs and Bavuma almost went run for run, reaching their fifties within two overs of each other, and their centuries within four.

They were out within four overs, too. Stubbs went first, for 122, followed by Bavuma for 113 on the stroke of tea, at which point the Proteas declared their second innings at 366-5.

Pace bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen then took two wickets each from the top order, leaving Sri Lanka virtually doomed to defeat sometime on Saturday, and the end of its unusual unbeaten run in Durban.

Stubbs began the day on 17, and Bavuma on 24. There was enough movement and bounce to worry them but they were in no hurry.

Stubbs was dropped on 33 by Angelo Mathews at first slip and bowler Vishwa Fernando was distraught. The batter was dropped again on 55 by Kusal Mendis behind the stumps, but that was a half-chance. That was all both batters conceded to Sri Lanka as they ground down the bowlers.

They scored a sedate 101 runs in an extended session to lunch, then picked up the pace afterwards, even after the new ball was taken.

Stubbs, with two runs into square leg, reached his second test century in his sixth test off 183 balls. He leaped and pumped his fist.

Bavuma followed with his third test century, off 202 balls, and a wave of his bat.

His precious 70 easily led the Proteas in the first innings, and he's the first South Africa captain to score at least 70 in both innings of a home test since 1939, by Alan Melville against England on the same field.

Their 249-run stand in 72 overs ended when Stubbs moved to the left but missed Vishwa Fernando's delivery and lost his leg stump. Stubbs hit nine boundaries and two sixes over long-on and long-off among the 221 balls he faced.

Bavuma was lbw to an Asitha Fernando nip-backer after 228 balls, also including nine boundaries.

South Africa started a bowler short without allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who broke his finger on Thursday and will miss the rest of the two-test series.

But he wasn't missed again as Rabada and Jansen worked over the Sri Lankans.

Dimuth Karunaratne tried to drive Rabada but edged to the slips in the fifth over.

Fellow opener Pathum Nissanka had luck — he was dropped on 4 and given a no-ball reprieve — but Gerald Coetzee trapped him on the front pad on 23.

Spinner Keshav Maharaj was introduced to slow down Dinesh Chandimal and Mathews, and Mathews fell lbw after Jansen went around the wicket.

Kamindu Mendis unnecessarily poked at Jansen and edged behind on 10, and failed to score a fifty for the first time in his nine tests.

Prabath Jayasuriya was sent in as the nightwatchman but he fell to a stunning, two-handed catch by Tony de Zorzi.

That forced captain Dhananjaya de Silva to come out for the last seven balls of the day. Chandimal was 29 not out.

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