Tendulkar rises, Dravid slips in ICC rankings

Dubai: Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar rose a couple of rungs to be joint fourth but fellow veteran Rahul Dravid dropped out of the top 10 in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Friday.

Tendulkar, who scored a half century in the opening MCG Test defeat against Australia, shared the fourth spot with South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, while Dravid slipped to 11th after dropping a couple of spots in the latest list, the ICC said in a release here. Among the bowlers, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was the only Indian in the top-10 at an unchanged sixth position.

Among the Australians, fast bowler Peter Siddle, who took three for 63 and three for 42 in Australia's 122-run victory, jumped five places to seventh, where he is joined by Sri Lankan Rangana Herath. Herath claimed match figures of nine for 128 which turned out to be the cornerstone of Sri Lanka's 208-run victory over South Africa on Friday.

Australia fast bowlers Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson have also moved in the right direction. Hilfenhaus, who took five for 75 and two for 39, has gained seven spots in the rankings and now sits just outside the top 20 in 22nd position. Man-of-the-Match Pattinson has been rewarded for match figures of six for 108 with a jump of five places which puts him in 31st spot.

There is something to cheer for young India fast bowler Umesh Yadav and South Africa's debutant Marchant de Lange. Yadav has moved up five places to 42nd spot after figures of three for 106 and four for 70 while de Lange has entered the list in the 51st position after figures of seven for 81 and one for 45.

The bowling list is still headed by South Africa's Dale Steyn. In the batsmen's top-50 list, Hashim Amla (up by three to seventh), Thilan Samaraweera (up by three to 13th), Mike Hussey (up by one to 16th), Virender Sehwag (up by one to 18th) and Ricky Ponting (up by seven to 24th) are among those who have headed up.

Australia opener Ed Cowan has entered the list at the 61st position after making an impressive debut in Melbourne. The batting list is headed by Kumar Sangakkara who became the eighth Sri Lanka batsman to score a zero and century in the same Test.

Renegades silence Thunder

Melbourne Renegades have edged out Sydney Thunder by six runs in a thriller.

The Melbourne Renegades earned their first win of the KFC T20 Big Bash League, claiming a thriller over the Sydney Thunder at ANZ Stadium by six runs on Friday.

Renegades skipper Andrew McDonald won the toss and elected to bat, and his side posted what looked to be a below-par 8-140 on the back of knocks from openers Brad Hodge (44) and Aaron Finch (41).

Despite a lightning start in the chase from West Indian Chris Gayle (75), the Thunder were pegged back in the run rate by some fine economic bowling from Shahid Afridi (3-21 off four overs) and Dirk Nannes (0-10 off four).

Gayle was the only shining light in the Thunder's time at the crease, with cameos from Usman Khawaja (17) and Tim Cruickshank (15) not enough for the hosts to avoid their first defeat of the campaign, as they finished on 7-134.

Renegades pacemen Shane Harwood and Shaun Tait scalped two wickets apiece as the momentum Gayle built for Sydney disappeared late in the chase.

Earlier, Sydney spinner Luke Doran (2-26 off three) dismissed both Melbourne openers in the space of three balls in the 11th over to turn the Renegades innings on its head.

Hodge was dismissed holing out to Jason Floros at long-on, before Finch was bowled off his pads by the 20-year-old tweaker.

Amazingly, Doran could have had three scalps in four balls, as Afridi was dropped by Floros on his first ball.

Glenn Maxwell (10) never got going, and was clean bowled by paceman Sean Abbott (2-21 off four), while Pakistani pair Afridi (16) and Abdul Razzaq (13) were others to reach double figures for Melbourne.

The Thunder were impressive in the field, highlighted by Australian Test batsman Khawaja's two tough catches in the deep.

Razzaq broke a run of 51 balls without a Renegades' boundary - off the bat - when he cracked a six off the second-last ball of the inning, but to typify his side's fortunes in their 20 overs, he was bowled the next ball by Abbott.

Luke Butterworth was the other Thunder bowler to nab multiple wickets, finishing with the respectable figures of 2-27 from four overs.

Harris added to Australia squad for 2nd Test

Melbourne: Paceman Ryan Harris has been added to Australia's 12-man squad for the second Test against India, joining the 11 that beat the visitors by 122 runs in the first match.

Harris, who is working his way back from a hip injury, will give Australia the option of a four-man pace attack. He replaces left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was 12th man in Melbourne.

Though the Sydney Cricket Ground has traditionally been a spin-friendly wicket, it may be prepared to suit pacemen this time to negate India's strength against spin bowling. If so, Harris could join a four-man pace attack while offspinner Nathan Lyon is demoted to 12th man.

Harris was regarded as Australia's No 1 fast bowler before his injury absence, but the performances of James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus in the first-Test victory have cast doubts on whether Harris can force his way into the team.

Watson's continued absence ensures the six batsmen from the Melbourne Test will be retained, although the strong performances of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey — the men under most scrutiny going into the series opener — had already ensured their spots. Wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin is also safe, despite his continued poor form.

Chairman of selectors John Inverarity said the team would take great confidence and momentum into the second game and he welcomed Harris' return to the squad after a four-Test absence.

"Ryan has had carefully monitored preparation, which has gone to plan," Inverarity said. "Mitchell Starc and Daniel Christian, who were both in the squad for the first Test, have been omitted but remain very much in our thinking."

Sri Lanka romp to first Test win in South Africa

Durban: Rangana Herath took 5-79 as Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 208 runs in the second Test on Thursday for a breakthrough win in the country and a first victory in 16 matches.

Spinner Herath wrapped up Sri Lanka's first-ever Test victory in South Africa late on Day Four and ended a miserable run in Test cricket over the last 18 months as the Proteas slumped to 241 all out in their second innings, well short of their victory target of 450.

Herath broke a stubborn 99-run stand between AB de Villiers (69) and Dale Steyn (43) and then removed Steyn and Marchant de Lange in three balls to wrap up a series-leveling success for the tourists with a day to spare.

The left-arm slow bowler took nine wickets in the game in a Man-of-the-Match performance to send Sri Lanka to one of their best-ever wins, overcoming poor recent form, a problem with player salaries and a dismal return of seven losses and a draw in their eight previous Tests in South Africa.

Herath had De Villiers lbw late in the day to begin South Africa's final slide after a battling partnership with Steyn delayed Sri Lanka's march to victory and lifted the struggling home team from 133-6 in their second innings. Morkel went three overs later and Herath hurried out Steyn and debutant De Lange as Sri Lanka suddenly raced to victory.

The revived Sri Lankans also made a dramatic turnaround in the three-match contest after losing the first Test by an innings and 81 runs.

South Africa fell to a fourth straight Test defeat in Durban, setting up a series decider in Cape Town next week after no one gave the Sri Lankans a hope when they were bowled out for 180 and 150 in the first match.

At Kingsmead, Sri Lanka scored 338 and 279 - and skittled out South Africa for 168 in their first innings - for a dominant 449-run lead.

A 28th Test century by Kumar Sangakkara, and a second half-century of the match by impressive debutant wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal (54), had built Sri Lanka's second innings on Wednesday and put the tourists in complete control of the Test.

Dilhara Fernando removed skipper Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince to back up Herath with 2-29 on the fourth day, while captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thisara Perera had one wicket each.

South Africa's unlikely hopes of saving the Test slipped away in 27 overs after lunch as the Proteas lost 5-50 in the middle session. Only Hashim Amla resisted with a half-century - as he did in South Africa's first-innings 168 - but was then run out for 51 as the home team's batsmen fell at regular intervals.

Having already lost captain Graeme Smith before lunch, Jacques Rudolph went to a loose drive to Perera straight after. Jacques Kallis top-edged an attempted sweep off Herath onto his helmet and up to Tharanga Paranavitana at short leg to go for a second duck of the game and his first pair in Test cricket in his 149th match.

Amla was run out as playing partner Prince refused a run and turned his back on Amla, while Mark Boucher fell lbw to Herath just before tea.

In between, Fernando forced out Prince with a sharp, rising delivery that the left-hander couldn't control and gloved to Paranavitana at first slip.

De Villiers and Steyn battled to the brink of a gutsy century partnership, but South Africa were already heading to a damaging defeat and the Test futures of opener Rudolph and veteran Prince were expected to be under scrutiny.

Having lost 5-50 before the seventh-wicket partnership, South Africa then lost 4-9 at the end to fall away dramatically and continue what is becoming known in the country as the curse of Kingsmead.

Gibbs relief at narrow win

Perth Scorchers batsman Herschelle Gibbs felt his side were lucky to emerge from their clash against the Brisbane Heat on Thursday with a win.

Gibbs – one of Perth's two overseas players – blasted 38 from 22 balls at the top of the order as he combined for an 80-run partnership inside eight overs with Marcus North for the opening wicket.

But after that Perth lost their way, finishing with a score of 8-162, which saw the winless Heat come within 10 runs of the Scorchers' total.

Gibbs felt that his side did not score enough runs and were lucky that Brisbane were without a win and low on confidence.

"I think we were probably 20 runs short," Gibbs said after the close win.

"I probably think that if we played a team that maybe (had) won one or two games it might have been a different story. (They) obviously they haven't won a game yet and (are) lacking a bit of confidence."

"There's a fine line between success and failure in this game. The ball did obviously well enough to restrict them and we got early wickets which was important. We pulled it off. (It was) lucky but we'll take it."

Gibbs is delighted with his KFC Twenty20 Big Bash League experience so far, with the South African clearly enjoying life in Perth.

"I've settled in nicely and (I'm) comfortable," he said.

"The lads are good, the facilities are fantastic. I was very happy when Mickey (Arthur, former coach) phoned me to come over here and I jumped at the opportunity. So far so good."

Gibbs – who still wants to play international cricket for his country – played a key role in Perth's second win in a row and it is no coincidence that both victories came in matches where the Scorchers scored well at the top of the order.

"I think it's important (opening partnerships) in any form of the game, especially the Twenty20," he said.

"Your first duty is to obviously capitalise on the (fielding) restriction. Marshy (Shaun Marsh) last game did it for us and Marcus (North) did it this game."

"It's just unfortunate the middle order haven't really had a proper go yet (but) they'll obviously will make a contribution as the competition goes on."

Next on the agenda for Perth is a trip to Melbourne to face Shane Warne and the Melbourne Stars at the MCG on January 4.

"I think they're also a little bit under pressure, having lost. We've got the momentum irrespective of who we play against. As great as 'Warney' is, you can't think about that, we know what we need to do. That's play good cricket and competitive cricket."

1st Test: Australia thrash India by 122 runs

Melbourne: The much-fancied Indian batting was ripped apart by a rampaging Australian pace attack as the visitors were comprehensively beaten in the first Test by 122 runs to go down 1-0 on Thursday.

Chasing a competitive total of 292, the Indian batting collapsed for the second time in the Test, bundled out for a mere 169. Barring Sachin Tendulkar (32), who looked in his elements even in the second innings, none of the batsmen showed the stomach for a fight.

The Indian slide in the second innings, which started from the unwarranted slash from Virender Sehwag (7) just ten minutes before the lunch interval, finished with a heave by Umesh Yadav, who was caught brilliantly by David Warner at the long-on fence for 21. The visitors' middle order - VVS Laxman (1), Virat Kohli (0) and MS Dhoni (23) - once again failed to make any contribution.

Though the visitors would be infuriated by their batsmen's performance, they can take a lot of heart from the way their fast bowlers fared throughout the match. There were clouds over the fitness of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma before the start of the match, but while the former gave the team important breakthroughs, the latter bowled with seething pace. Yadav was the pick of the Indian pacers, troubling the opposition batsmen with his pace and swing.

Australia, who were down and out at the end of second day, showed intensity and won the little battles which proved decisive in the context of the game. Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey silenced their critics, who were gunning for their heads before the match, with useful knocks. While Ponting hit two half-centuries (62 and 60), Hussey made his second innings count with a magnificent 89. The 115-run stand shared by the two seasoned pros, when the team was tottering at 27 for 4 in the second innings, could well be the match-turning moment from an Australian point of view.

After putting some valuable contributions lower down the order, the Australian pacers didn't give the Indians an inch as they bowled with a lot of fire. While James Pattinson was adjudged Man of the Match for his match figures of 6 for 108, Ben Hilfenfaus made an impressive comeback to the side by claiming his maiden five-for in India's first innings. Peter Siddle too piled up the pressure and collected six wickets in the match.

Earlier, India, who had gone on day four thinking to take the remaining two Australian wickets, paid the price of their lack of intensity as Australia collected 74 runs for the last two wickets.

India struck with Zaheer as Hussey walked back for 89. The left-arm pacer squared him up to find the edge that was taken by Dhoni. Ishant finished the Australian innings with the wicket of Hilfenhaus, who was caught in the slips by Laxman.

India, in reply, got off to a terrible start as they lost the wicket of Sehwag, who once again fell prey to a well-set plan of enticing him outside the off stump. The dashing opener slashed a short ball, getting caught at gully by Hussey.

Having given Australia an upstart on the fourth morning of first Test, India went into lunch at 24 for 1, needing another 268 runs to win. Gautam Gambhir's poor run continued as the southpaw couldn't decide weather to leave or play a perfect outswinger from Siddle and ended up thick-edging it to Ponting in the slips. It was the start of yet another Indian collapse as Australia ran through the Indian middle order. Dravid, Laxman and Kohli departed in quick succession.

A real gem of a delivery by Pattinson, which moved in late, cannoned into the stumps of Rahul Dravid. Laxman was victim to his favourite flick, which went straight to square leg off Pattinson, while Kohli was plumb in front off the bowling of Hilfenhaus. India had gone from 39 for 2 to a disastrous 69 for 5.

India's last hope too vanished when Tendulkar couldn't resist the temptation of driving outside the off stump, caught by Hussey, his second catch in the gully region, off Siddle.

R Ashwin took his chances and got a few streaky boundaries, but he failed to keep Siddle's bouncer, aimed at his ribs, down and it lobbed up for a simple catch to the short-leg fielder Ed Cowan. After hitting a boundary and a massive six to Pattinson, Zaheer backed a little too much to a well-pitched delivery, getting a thick inside edge onto his pads to short-leg. Yadav swatted a few boundaries in the end but he was the last man to perish for India.

Sangakkara century puts Sri Lanka in command

Durban: Kumar Sangakkara's 108 put Sri Lanka in complete control of the second Test against South Africa on Wednesday and on course for a breakthrough first win in the country.

Sangakkara's 28th Test century and first in South Africa propelled Sri Lanka to 256-7 in their second innings and a huge lead of 426 with three wickets in hand and two days still to play at Kingsmead.

The stylish left-hander survived a dropped catch in the first over of the day when he was on 3 and cashed in with a stroke-filled return to form in his first big score this series.

His century, sharing partnerships of 94 with Thilan Samaraweera (43) and 104 with impressive debutant Dinesh Chandimal (54), helped ensure South Africa would have to make a world-record winning score in the fourth innings to steal the match — or bat for long periods just to draw it.

Having posted 338 in their first innings, and skittling out South Africa for 168, Sri Lanka were in a dominant position to level the three-match series and send it to a decider in Cape Town. It would also be the Sri Lankans' first ever Test win in South Africa and complete a dramatic turnaround in this contest after they were blown away to lose the series opener by an innings just over a week ago.

Sangakkara hit 13 fours and lifted Sri Lanka from 44-3 and early trouble after an hour delay at the start of the day in Durban because of rain.

By the time he lofted a mistimed drive to Graeme Smith at mid-on off legspinner Imran Tahir (2-64) to fall two balls after Chandimal and three overs from the close of play, the job was done and South Africa had effectively been batted out of the match.

Fast bowler Dale Steyn returned 3-54 for the home team but South Africa's frustration was evident with Steyn's verbal onslaught at Chandimal shortly before he got the young wicketkeeper batsman out.

South Africa took six wickets on the day, yet Sangakkara's classy century — combined with Sri Lanka's 170-run lead after the first innings — looked set to continue the home team's miserable run at Kingsmead.

The Proteas have lost their last three Tests at the ground and fell to India last time they played here having also won the first match of the series by an innings.

Debutant fast bowler Marchant de Lange's 7-81 in the first innings and eight wickets so far in the match was set to be lost in South Africa's disappointment.

Sangakkara hadn't settled when he sent an edge between wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and first slip Smith and with Boucher initially going for the catch and missing it, Smith spilled the chance.

The top-ranked Test batsman made them pay, driving, cutting and sweeping his way to the highest score by a Sri Lankan in South Africa. Successive boundaries off Jacques Kallis saw him race through the 90s before a square drive for two took him past 100 and put Sri Lanka on course for a desperately needed first Test win in 16 matches.

Resuming on 7-1, Sri Lanka had lost Tharanga Paranavitana (9) and Mahela Jayawardene (14) early before the crucial stand between Sangakkara and Samaraweera took the game away from South Africa.

A centurion in the first innings, Samaraweera was bowled by Tahir and Angelo Mathews edged behind off Steyn to give South Africa a glimmer of hope of holding back Sri Lanka's surge with the visiting team 141-5.

But Sangakkara followed up the stand with Samaraweera with a century partnership with Chandimal, who registered his second half-century of the match to help put the tourists in complete command.

Hurricanes remain undefeated

The Hobart Hurricanes have continued their unbeaten start to the Big Bash League after a 14-run win over the Adelaide Strikers on Wednesday.

Solid contributions from Travis Birt (44), Phil Jaques (41) and Owais Shah (unbeaten 36) guided the Hurricanes to 4-171 from their 20 overs after choosing to bat at Adelaide Oval.

The Hurricanes' bowlers backed them up with captain Xavier Doherty (4-17) starring as they fought to their third win from as many matches, keeping the Strikers to 8-157 in their chase on a flat wicket.

Tom Cooper and Cameron Borgas looked capable of leading the Strikers to victory late in the innings, but the Hurricanes were largely untroubled after breaking their stand.

Opener Aiden Blizzard provided the Strikers with a brilliant start in their chase, hitting 20 off 14 before being clean bowled by Doherty as he looked for another six.

But, with his departure, the run-rate slowed, and when Adam Crosthwaite (five) fell to Jason Krejza (1-40), the hosts were reduced to 2-57 in their eighth over.

The in-form Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took the big wicket of Callum Ferguson (two) in the next over, thanks to a sharp catch from Rhett Lockyear at point.

When a settled Michael Klinger departed for 36 - to Doherty - the Strikers were in trouble at 4-73.

Adelaide had struggled to find boundaries to start their innings, before Cooper and Borgas provided some vital hitting.

Cooper smashed Naved-ul-Hasan out of the ground to start the 17th over as the Strikers kept up hopes of an unlikely win.

Borgas was handed a life by Krejza in the 17th over, but he fell next ball when he skied one, bringing an end to his 31 and a 62-run partnership.

Cooper (44 off 27) remained at the crease at the end as Doherty tore through the tail - including just missing out on a hat-trick - to lead his team to the win.

Earlier, the Hurricanes relied on some big hitting in the last five overs to post their strong total.

Openers Jonathan Wells and Jaques worked hard to ensure the visitors had wickets in hand, battling to 41 without loss in the six power-play overs.

Wells, who was fortunate to survive an lbw shout from Alfonso Thomas in the sixth over, was the first to go, smashing a shot down Blizzard's throat at mid-wicket to depart for 31.

League-leading run-scorer Birt lifted the run rate, before Jaques was removed having struggled to get going.

Birt had hammered a blistering 44 off 26 balls, including three fours and three sixes, but he fell to Johan Botha (2-28) going after more quick runs.

Shah finished unbeaten with some clever late hitting, while Matt Johnston added 13 off five as the Hurricanes blasted 66 off the last five overs.

1st Test: Australia 179/8, lead by 230

Melbourne: On a day when the pitch was supposed to be best for batting, 15 wickets fell for 247 runs to put the opening Test match between Australia and India in the balance with the hosts 179 for 8 at stumps, leading by 230 runs.

India, who started day three with the prospect of taking the lead, lost seven wickets for 68 runs in the morning session to slump to 282 all out, conceding a first-innings lead of 51 runs. Ben Hilfenhaus made a successful comeback to the Australian Test squad with figures of 5 for 75, while Peter Siddle took the last wicket to fall, ending with figures of 3 for 63.

India then made a remarkable comeback through Umesh Yadav who ran through Australia's top order with 4 for 49, and despite a century stand for the fifth wicket between Ricky Ponting (60) and Michael Hussey (79 not out), India grabbed eight wickets to set up a fascinating fourth day.

Yadav removed David Warner (5) and Shaun Marsh (3) who chopped their attempted drives onto the stumps, while Ed Cowan (8) was trapped lbw by him while padding up an incoming delivery. With Ponting early at the wicket, MS Dhoni brought his nemesis Ishant Sharma to bowl. However, it was captain Michael Clarke (1) who became Ishant's victim when he got an inside edge that went on to hit his leg stump.

At 27 for 4 Australia were staring down the barrel, but seasoned campaigners Ponting and Hussey came to the team's rescue with a counter-attack that produced 115 runs for the fifth wicket. Ponting was the aggressor earlier on but it was Hussey who grabbed eyeballs with his strokeplay. Watching all his ploys to dislodge the partnership fail, Dhoni brought back his spearhead Zaheer Khan who responded with Ponting's wicket, the former Australian captain splicing a drive straight to Virender Sehwag at gully.

Inevitably, one wicket led to another as the left-armer got rid of Brad Haddin (6) soon after Ponting's dismissal. The ball was reversing by now, prompting Dhoni to bring back Yadav for a final spell. The move paid off as the speedster got his fourth wicket when Siddle (4) poked an angling delivery to Dhoni who pouched a superb take.

Dhoni persisted with R Ashwin from one end and it almost struck gold. However, Rahul Dravid - the leading catcher in Test cricket - made a hash of a simple slip catch offered by Hussey when he was 69. Ashwin delivered the eighth wicket when he trapped Nathan Lyon on the backfoot for 0, but Hussey and James Pattinson negotiated the remaining overs to take Australia to stumps with two wickets in hand.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, it was Dravid's dismissal off the second ball of the day that triggered an embarassing collapse. Dravid's off stump was sent cartwheeling

by Hilfenhaus without the No. 3 adding to his overnight 68. Siddle then removed VVS Laxman in his first over of the day to make it 221 for 5.

Meanwhile, nightwatchman Ishant continued his vigil with solid defence. But he soon lost Virat Kohli (11) and Dhoni (6) to Hilfenhaus, both the result of irresponsible shots. Kohli edged a regulation catch to Haddin while Dhoni scooped a loose drive to Hussey at gully. Ishant's vigil was finally ended by Hilfenahus for 11, which made the score 254 for 8. The Tasmanian seamer, drafted into the squad as a result of injuries to Australia's preferred pace bowlers, picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests to cap a superb morning for the home team.

Ashwin played a few useful strokes, including a six over the wicketkeeper, to contribute a valuable 31 before Siddle came back to remove him, after Zaheer (4) was castled by Pattinson. That ended the Indian innings at 282, leaving them 51 runs short of Australia's first innings score of 333.

2nd Test: South Africa collapse puts Sri Lanka on top

Durban: Sri Lanka pounced on South Africa's dismal recent record at Kingsmead to bowl the home team out for 168 in the second Test on Tuesday and move into a commanding 177-run first-innings lead at stumps on the second day.

Left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara took 5-52 to rip through South Africa's top order and spinner Rangana Herath 4-49 to mop up the tail, sending the Proteas to another slump at the Durban ground and their lowest total against Sri Lanka.

South Africa have lost their last three tests at Kingsmead and their poor form at the ground continued as the home batsmen collapsed after lunch to last just 54.4 overs following Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 338 - their highest score in South Africa.

Sri Lanka lost captain Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over of their second innings, but the hefty lead saw the tourists take control of the game on South Africa's east coast and dramatically turn the tide in the three-match series after losing the first Test by an innings and 81 runs.

Veteran Thilan Samaraweera made 102 in Sri Lanka's first innings to put the visiting team on top, despite South Africa fast bowler Marchant de Lange's 7-81 on debut.

Left-armers Welegedara and Herath then combined to devastating effect as South Africa crumbled to 119-8 on a good batting pitch to give Sri Lanka hope of a first-ever Test win in South Africa and ending a run of 15 matches without a victory stretching back to July 2010.

"We are really happy. If tomorrow is a good day, we are in a good position to win the Test match," said Samaraweera, whose 13th Test century justified his late inclusion in Sri Lanka's touring squad after being dropped for the recent series defeat to Pakistan.

"The pleasing thing is this is my comeback tour," he said, "I'm really happy to get a hundred. When they picked the (initial) squad for South Africa I thought I would never play for Sri Lanka (again)."

South Africa needed a 26-run partnership between Dale Steyn (29 not out) and Imran Tahir for the ninth wicket to avoid the follow-on and Steyn combined with No. 11 De Lange to add another 23 for the last wicket.

Welegedara claimed the wickets of South Africa captain Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis for a duck in a two-wicket burst early on. He also took a catch off Thisara Perera for Sri Lanka's first wicket and the Proteas slipped to 27-3 before Hashim Amla (54) and AB de Villiers rebuilt to go to tea on 100-3.

However, when De Villiers fell for 25 straight after the break to a loose drive to give Welegedara his third wicket and Amla went two overs later, South Africa's brief recovery was over and Sri Lanka had a major foothold in the match and the series.

Under-pressure middle-order batsman Ashwell Prince fell to Herath to a poorly-judged reverse sweep as South Africa self-destructed and lost 5-16 in the middle of their innings to continue the curse of Kingsmead.

"If we knew what our problem was here, we obviously wouldn't find ourselves in the position we are in," Amla said. "I think they bowled quite well and soft dismissals on our part. We know it's not a 160, 170 wicket. We're going to have to dig deep."

The hosts had dominated in an innings win in the first Test in Centurion but Sri Lanka already showed signs of capitalizing on South Africa's poor run at Kingsmead when 35-year-old Samaraweera anchored a much-improved batting display.

He was last man out just before lunch but his 46-run partnership with Herath (30) in the morning - along with a century stand with Sri Lanka's own debutant Dinesh Chandimal on Day One - gave Sri Lanka's bowlers something to work with following two poor batting displays in the series opener.

"We talked a lot after that game and we talked honestly," Samaraweera said. "The last five days we have practiced really hard. We put a lot in."

Samaraweera's gritty innings included 11 fours in a first Test century since August 2010 before he finally fell to De Lange to give the 21-year-old quick the third-best innings figures by a South African on Test debut.

De Lange, who ended Monday with 4-60, picked up all three wickets for South Africa on the second day as Herath, Welegedara and Samaraweera fell in quick succession to the youngster, making him the eighth bowler to take five in an innings on debut this year.

However, his heroics in his first Test were wiped away by a shaky South African batting performance.

"I don't know what to say and how to pinpoint it," Amla said. "We played some uncharacteristic shots and we find ourselves in a spot of bother."