Paterson's 5-wicket haul puts SA firmly in driving seat

A Dane Paterson five-wicket haul, followed by some disciplined batting, gave South Africa the upper hand as they increased their lead to 106 runs to reach the tea break on 76/1 on day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha on Saturday.

When the break came, the home side had Aiden Markram (39) and Ryan Rickelton (12) not out and looking to capitalise on the solid start.

Having taken three of his four wickets to leave Sri Lanka on 318/8 at lunch, Dane Paterson completed his five-for shortly after the break when he removed Vishwa Fernando to return with career-best figures of 5/71.

Keshav Maharaj then wrapped up the innings with the wicket of Prabath Jayasuriya, who was stumped by Kyle Verreynne for a gritty 24, dismissing the visitors all out for 328, still 30 runs behind.

Paterson was the pick of the South African bowling attack with his figures coming off just 22 overs, while Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen claiming 2/65 and 2/100 respectively.

Markram and Tony de Zorzi (19) got South Africa off to a fast start, racing to 55 without loss. However, the left-hander’s 38-ball innings ended when he was undone by a Jayasuriya delivery that spun through the gate and rearranged his stumps.