Twitter Reactions: An intriguing day of cricket dominated by the bowlers as Sri Lanka gain a slight upper hand

The first day of the second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka was completely dominated by the bowlers. A total of 13 wickets fell on the day as Sri Lanka seems to have a slight upper hand. However, they’ve got to survive the first session of play on day-2 if they want to assert their control over the game.

Only 82 overs could be bowled on the first day and Sri Lanka still trails the Proteas’ score by 162 runs. They’ve got seven wickets in hand and will look to get as close as possible to the first innings score. With Kusal Perera yet to bat, the visitors will be a confident unit and will look to take the lead.

South Africa rolled out for 222 runs in the first innings

After winning the toss, South Africa opted to bat first in the game. However, the decision didn’t really work in their favour. Vishwa Fernando was on fire straightaway and sketched the wickets of Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla. While the former was bowled for 6 runs, the latter didn’t trouble the scorers and got out for a golden duck.

Furthermore, as an insult to the injury, Rajitha ran Temba Bavuma out for a duck bringing the hosts down to 15/3. From this point, Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis fought back. While the skipper got out for 25, Markram forged a good partnership with Quinton de Kock before he was dismissed for 60.

After the fell, the wicket-keeper took the ownership of the innings and batted well with the tail. With some slight resistance from Rabada at the other end, Quinton was able to switch gears and score quick runs. He added a quickfire 86 off 87 balls but missed out on a well-deserved century. His innings, though, helped South Africa stretch their total to 216 runs. The side was ultimately bundled out for 222 runs. Vishwa Fernando and Kasun Rajitha picked up three wickets each.

Sri Lanka lose three wickets towards the end of the day

The Sri Lankan batsmen were subjected to a great test as they required to bat against the new ball towards the end of the day. Three batsmen failed to survive this tricky phase including Dimuth Karunaratne. The skipper scored 17 runs while Oshada Fernando was out for a duck. Even Kusal Mendis failed as he nicked one to Quinton de Kock.

Lahiru Thirimanne is still batting out there along with nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha. Sri Lanka finished the day with a score of 60/3. The aim for South Africa on the second day will be to bowl Sri Lanka out for a paltry total. Twitterati thoroughly enjoyed the bowlers’ performances on the day. There was immense praise for Quinton de Kock who batted beautifully.

Here is how Twitterati reacted:

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