Paterson, Jansen rattle Sri Lanka batters

Three wickets in one over by Proteas quick Dane Paterson ripped through the Sri Lanka batting line-up as they headed to lunch in all sorts of trouble on 318/8 on day 3 of the second Test in Gqeberha on Saturday.

When lunch was taken, the tourists had Prabath Jayasuriya (18) and Vishwa Fernando (0) not out and their side still 40 runs behind South Africa's first innings score.

The visitors began the day with an overnight score of 242/3, with Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis not out and looking to swiftly wipe out the 116-run first innings deficit.

However, Paterson and Marco Jansen had other ideas as they tore into the Lankans' batting line-up to leave them in a spot of bother, slipping from 261/3 to 298/8 with the lunch break just minutes away.

The duo shared 43 runs for the fourth wicket before Jansen removed both men, first having Mathews caught behind by Kyle Verreynne for 44 before Kamindu (48) suffered a similar fate when he was caught at second slip by Aiden Markram.

Not to be outdone by his fast bowling teammate, Paterson got in on the action in the 89th over, striking off the first ball of the over to dismiss visit skipper Dhananjaya da Silva (14) off the first ball of the over.

Two balls later he disturbed the stumps of Kusal Mendis (16) and two balls after that Lahiru Kumara was back in the hut without troubling the scorers.

Jayasuriya and Vishwa weathered the early storm to take their side past 300 and to the lunch interval without any further damage.