Kumar Sangakkara and skipper Angelo Mathews struck brisk half-centuries to help Sri Lanka set up a thrilling finale to the series-deciding second Test against South Africa on Sunday.
Sangakkara (72) hit his tenth 50-plus score of the year and Mathews chipped in with an unbeaten 63 as the hosts declared their second innings on 229-8 shortly before close of play to set the visitors an imposing target of 369.
At stumps on a rain-interrupted day four, South Africa were 38-1, needing 331 more runs off a minimum 98 overs to pull off a series-clinching win.
Quinton de Kock (21) and Dean Elgar (13) were the not out batsmen at the crease.
The hosts, who posted 421 in their first essay, had bowled out South Africa for 282 in their first innings to gain a 139-run lead.
South Africa lead the two-Test series 1-0 after winning the opener in Galle by 153 runs. Even a draw in this game will see the Proteas reclaim the world number one ranking from Australia.
Sangakkara felt the visitors would play for draw than go for a win on Monday.
“Even in the first innings I thought they were playing for time (rather) than scoring runs. That allowed us to put pressure on them,” he said after the day’s play.
“The more negative (approach) you have, the more defensive shots you play. So, we are just happy to have fielders around and make sure they play as defensively as possible,” he said while hoping the rains would keep away.
South Africa’s chase did not start the way they had hoped for as they lost their first wicket with just six runs on the board.
Opener Alviro Petersen (zero) failed for the second time in the game when he was caught off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who opened the bowling.
– Proteas confident –
Senior South African batsman AB de Villiers was confident his side could pull off a win and clinch their first Test series victory on the island in 21 years.
“We are not playing negative cricket, we will assess the situation in the morning and if we have wickets, then we will go for a win,” he said.
“We are very positive that we can pull this off. It means everything to us to win this series in Sri Lanka, so we will do our best to make it happen.”
South African cricketer Dale Steyn (2L) celebrates with teammates after dismissing unseen Sri Lankan batsman Upul Tharanga during the fourth day of the second cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and South Africa ©AFP
The Sri Lankan batsmen had started off confidently after rain interrupted play for an hour following the lunch break.
Sangakkara unleashed his trademark silken pulls and drives to race to the 50-run mark with a boundary off leg-spinner Imran Tahir (2-76).
Just when he was looking good for a bigger score, he edged to wicketkeeper De Kock off Morne Morkel (4-45), bringing an end to his enterprising knock that included eight hits to the fence.
Kithruwan Vithanage (seven) was superbly caught by Faf du Plessis who ran backwards without taking his eyes off the ball and then dived forward to pluck it inches off the ground.
Test debutant Niroshan Dickwella top-edged to AB de Villiers off Dale Steyn (2-59), failing to repeat his first innings performance which saw him score 72.
Tahir bowled Dilruwan Perera and Morkel sent back Herath, prompting skipper Mathews to declare the innings.
Earlier, Sri Lanka added a healthy 97 runs in the first session while losing their openers and the prolific Mahela Jayawardene.
Jayawardene, who cracked a solid 165 in the first innings, was out for a duck in a bizarre fashion off Tahir.
The stylish right-hander played the reverse sweep but the ball popped up and Dean Elgar rushed across from short leg to pouch the ball before crashing into De Kock.
Jayawardene was given out but he sought a review believing that the ball had not touched his glove. However, the decision of the on-field umpire was upheld and the batsman walked away shaking his head in disappointment.
