Rangana Herath warned South Africa on Thursday to expect yet more spin in the second Test after the visitors were skittled for their lowest total since their readmission to international cricket.
Sri Lanka is chasing its first Test series win against South Africa since 2006 and needs just a draw to clinch the honours against the world’s second-ranked Test side.
South Africa lost the opening Test in Galle inside three days after being dispatched for 126 in the first innings and 73 in the second.
Herath said pitch conditions were ripe for a repeat of last week’s drubbing, in which the left-arm spinner took five wickets and off-spinner Dilruwan Perera returned overall match figures of ten for 78.
“If you see the surface, it’s dry. It will be more of a spin friendly surface,” the 40-year-old veteran spinner said ahead of the final Test starting here on Friday.
“We have Dilruwan (Perera) and if we require we also have Dhananjaya (de Silva). He couldn’t bowl in Galle, but he is certainly ready to bowl during games,” Herath told reporters.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis top-scored with a gritty 49 while paceman Kagiso Rabada impressed with four wickets in Sri Lanka’s first innings.
Rabada was ably supported by Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander in the first innings to bowl out Sri Lanka for 287, more than half of which were notched up by opener Dimuth Karnaratne.
Relying on pace
du Plessis said his team will rely on the pace bowlers to come back hard.
“If it doesn’t rain, then we will have a dangerous weapon in our fast bowlers. Once again we have to make a call as to whether we are playing three seamers or two spinners,” du Plessis said.
He added that South Africa was aiming to conquer local conditions in its bid to overtake India — about to play a five-Test series in England — and become the No. 1 side.
“It is never easy winning away from home. When you are coming to the sub-continent, drawing a series is as good as winning it,” he said. “It’s tough and that’s what the best teams do. We need to get to that No. 1 position in Test cricket.”
