Sri Lanka v South Africa - 2nd Test, Day 3: Hashim Amla's record-breaking ton avoids follow-on

Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla, captaining only his second Test match, has become the first South African skipper to register a Test century in Sri Lanka, after he scored an unbeaten 139, his 7th Test ton in the sub-continent, against the hosts at Colombo (SSC) to help his side avoid a follow-on.

Kepler Wessels’ 92 in 1992 at the same ground was the previous highest. His 382-ball innings is also the third best in terms of balls faced by a visiting captain in Sri Lanka: even as wickets tumbled around him, the 31-year-old’s innings, filled with 12 boundaries, was patience personified. Only fellow South African Jacques Kallis, with 8 centuries, is ahead of the right-hander in the list of the most number of centuries scored by a non-Asian batsman. His 139* is also the second best innings by a touring captain at the SSC falling behind Daniel Vettori(140) of New Zealand by one run.

Resuming the day at 98 for three, overnight batsmen Amla and AB de Villiers batted out the first hour without a fall of a wicket before the latter fell leg before wicket to Dilruwan Perera, who went on to pick up the second five-wicket haul of his career, for 37. It sparked a middle order collapse, and the side was struggling at 175 for 6; Amla, though, in the company of Dale Steyn, made sure that the visitors went past the the follow-on mark.

After his 22nd Test ton, Amla has now scored centuries against all Test-playing nations except West Indies. Only Kumar Sangakkara (27), Michael Clarke(25) and Alastair Cook(24) have scored more centuries than Amla since his first ton.

South Africa still face an uphill task to save the match with two more days remaining in the Test and will have to bat last against the Lankan spin trio: Dilruwan, Rangana Herath and Ajanta Mendis. The visitors only need a stalemate to reclaim their No. 1 ranking in the ICC Test team ratings, which is with Australia now, something that Amla himself said he will be looking forward to achieving by the end of the series.

Brief Scores:

Day 3 – Stumps:

Sri Lanka: 421 (Mahela Jayawardene 165, Niroshan Dickwella 72, Vernon Philander 2/52, Dale Steyn 2/69, JP Duminy 2/80) & 11/0 (Upul Tharanga 6*);

South Africa: 282 (Hashim Amla 139*, Dilruwan Perera 5/69, Rangana Herath 4/71)

Sri Lanka lead by 150 runs with 10 wickets in hand.

Stat courtesy: Bharath Seervi – Sportskeeda writer.