Early finish likely at the Wanderers on the third day

An early finish inside three days is on the cards at the Wanderers after Sri Lanka were bowled out 30 minutes before lunch and forced to follow on by Faf du Plessis on the third day of the third test.

Resuming on their overnight 80/4‚ Sri Lanka were bundled out for 131 and were 13/1 after five overs.

If the weather permits‚ 74 overs remain in the day‚ more than the 45.4 it took the Proteas to rough up and roll the Sri Lankans.

Kagiso Rabada claimed the sole wicket of Kaushal Silva‚ who fell first ball after failing to get his gloves out of the way of a vicious lifter.

Kusal Mendis (8) and Dimuth Karunaratne (5) survived searching spells from Vernon Philander and Rabada in conditions that resembled a dank first morning at Lord's than a summer's day in Johannesburg.

Whatever chances Sri Lanka had of getting close to the follow-on target evaporated into the heavy cloud cover when Dinesh Chandimal (5) and Angelo Mathews (19) followed each other to the dressing room.

While there was an element of carelessness in Chandimal's dismissal off the niggardly Philander‚ who gave Quinton de Kock catching practice‚ there was everything world-class about Rabada's dismissal of Mathews.

The Sri Lankan captain had the fortune of getting a leg before decision reversed via a thin inside edge after Philander trapped him in front‚ but there was nothing he could do when Rabada's leg-cutter squared him up.

Then there was De Kock's catch‚ snaffling the first slip bound catch with the elasticity of a chameleon's tongue latching onto a grasshopper.

De Kock displayed the kind of agility goalkeepers dare to dream of‚ let alone the precise keeping footwork that allowed him to lunge at the ball and collect it cleanly.

It's the kind of excellence that allows bowlers to persevere and prosper‚ regardless of the surfaces they operate on‚ knowing full well their work will be rewarded.

Rangana Herath spat the dummy very quickly in his 11-ball eight‚ top-edging his hook shot to Stephen Cook at short square leg off Duanne Olivier‚ gifting the Knights seamer his first test wicket.

Suranga Lakmal was not expected to hang around and did well to make four off nine balls before giving Wayne Parnell his first wicket.

Upul Tharanga (24) held up one end very well before being Olivier's second test wicket by guiding a wide ball to Dean Elgar at second slip while Nuwan Pradeep gifted Parnell a tough but well-taken return catch to end the pathetic first innings.

- TMG Digital