Rangana Herath’s magnificent 6-wicket haul in the second innings of the final Test helped Sri Lanka whitewashing South Africa 2-0 on Monday at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. While chasing a mammoth target of 490 runs on a spin-friendly the Protea batters fell 199 runs short and ultimately, lost the series.
The spinners turned the job easy for the hosts as they took all the wickets during the chase. While Herath picked up 6 scalps off 98 from 33 overs, the rest 4 wickets were equally distributed among Akila Dhanajaya (2 for 67, 19 overs) and Dilruwan Perera (2 for 90, 30 overs)
The South Africans resumed the play with 351 runs more to win and level the series. Herath struck twice late in the morning session to dent South Africa's fightback led by an unbeaten half-century by Theunis de Bruyn on day four of the second Test on Monday.
South Africa were 246 for seven at lunch with De Bruyn batting on 85. The visitors need another 244 runs to avoid their first series whitewash since 2006 when they lost 2-0 in Sri Lanka.
De Bruyn recorded South Africa's first fifty of the series early in the morning session and Temba Bavuma, who made 63, followed his overnight partner as the duo put on 123 runs. His resistance ended just after he was caught behind off Herath, who also got wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock lbw for eight on the stroke of lunch.
De Bruyn was especially impressive, sweeping judiciously and defending doggedly on a tough surface, while Bavuma was also adept at picking gaps on the leg side and rotating the strike. However, the centurion lacked support from the other end.
The tail-enders failed to create a difference after De Bruyn’s dismissal in the 85th over. Rabada and Dale Steyn could only add ten runs before Herath put the last nail in the coffin to win the series.