Steyn strikes after lunch

Cape Town - Dale Steyn picked up the important wicket of Mahela Jayawardene to leave Sri Lanka on 91 for four on the first day of the first Sunfoil test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

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Earlier, Vernon Philander’s fine introduction to Test cricket continued as he reduced Sri Lanka to 76 for three at lunch on the first day of the first Sunfoil Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

Seamer Philander, who picked up 14 wickets in his first two Tests, against Australia in the recently completed series, nabbed two for 30 off nine overs as the hosts took advantage of winning the toss and electing to bowl on a green pitch which offered some seam movement but was a touch on the slow side.

The 26-year-old Philander was backed up by Dale Steyn, as the visitors battled to cope with the Proteas’ pace attack.

Sri Lanka’s plight could have been a lot worse if not for a battling 54-run third-wicket partnership between Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene.

The visitors did not enjoy the best of starts to their innings as they crashed to 12 for two.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (6) was the first man to depart as his ugly hoick across the line to a Steyn delivery only resulted in a simple catch for Philander at mid-on before Philander grabbed his first wicket when he removed the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara (1).

The left-handed Sangakkara sparred at a delivery which angled across him before leaping off a good length to find the outside edge of the bat before nestling into Jacques Kallis’ hands at second slip.

Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene then added a touch of respectability to the innings as they took the score to 66.

Paranavitana battled with short deliveries, given his propensity to take his eye off the ball, and a short ball from Morne Morkel clattered into his helmet.

But the left-hander showed some fighting spirit to score 32 off 67 balls before his forward defensive stroke was not enough to prevent a Philander delivery nipping through the gap between bat and pad to bowl the left-handed batsman.

Jayawardene made his way to 23 not out at the break while Thilan Samaraweera was unbeaten on six.

Teams:

South Africa:
Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wk), Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir

Sri Lanka:
NT Paranavitana, TM Dilshan (captain), KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, AD Mathews, JK Silva (wk), HMRKB Herath, NLTC Perera, UWMBCA Welegedara, CRD Fernando