One of the sweetest moments of my career: Paterson on Proteas five-for

Taking his first Test five-wicket haul was arguably one of the sweetest moments of his playing career, Proteas right-arm medium pacer Dane Paterson said.

The former Warriors seamer claimed the wicket of Dinesh Chandimal shortly before the close of day two as he completed the special milestone in spectacular fashion.

Marco Jansen taking two wickets on the morning of day three was the catalyst for Paterson to shine with the new ball.

Bowling the 89th over, he took three wickets, having both Dhananjaya da Silva and Lahiru Kumara caught behind the stumps, but it was his delivery to Kusal Mendis that occurred in-between the two catches that caught the eye.

Mendis left the ball thinking it was going to miss the stumps, only for it to nip back and clip the top of off stump, sparking excited celebrations from Paterson and his teammates.

His fifth wicket came shortly after lunch, removing Prabath Jayasuriya as the pace bowler let out a roar of emotion as South Africa dismissed the visitors for 328, 30 runs behind their own first innings total.

“It's my first Test five-for and it's coming at the age of 35, I think that is an achievement on its own,” he remarked in the post-play press conference.

“It's a reward for my career, that is how I look at it and why I celebrated like that.

“When I was playing my cricket, there were very good fast bowling stocks, so you think OK, maybe one day I will get my chance. Luckily that chance came for me today and I took it with both hands.

“It was quite special for me and felt almost like I'd scored a hundred, that is why the celebrations were so emotional.”

Paterson only made his Test debut in 2020, in a match against England at St George's Park, but he has had very few opportunities in the whites, with the game against Sri Lanka being only his sixth red ball match of his career.

However, he brings with him a wealth of experience in a career spanning almost 17 years and has seen him play a magnitude of cricket across the various formats, both in South Africa and abroad in England.

Paterson was always competing for a place in the side against some of the best fast bowlers this country — the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander; and later a younger generation of Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortjé.

Plus both he and Ryan Rickelton, who were drafted into the side ahead of the second Test and both reached individual career milestones, may not even have been there had Wiaan Mulder and Coetzee been fit.

Furthermore, he felt that special achievement was just reward for bowling the “dirty overs”, a period where the ball is a bit older and offers very little assistance from the surface, while bowlers wait for the new ball to become available.

“I think we spoke about it in the week; one person had to put up their hand, so I did. If I'm doing the dirty work and picking up a wicket or two it's a positive for the team.

“There were a couple of plays and misses, and luckily I got one last night [Friday], so I tried to continue with that mantra on Saturday. There was definitely something in that wicket, it was just up to us to exploit it.”