Keshav Maharaj bowls Proteas to Test series victory over Sri Lanka and top of WTC table

Keshav Maharaj completed his 11th five-wicket haul to bowl the Proteas to an 109-run victory on the fifth day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at St George's Park in Gqeberha on Monday morning.

The 2-0 series win also propelled the South Africans to the top of the World Test Championship log, moving above Australia in the standings. Temba Bavuma side now need one more victory in their upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan to qualify for the final at Lord's in June 2025.

The match was still in the balance on the last morning of the second Test, with Sri Lanka needing Sri Lanka need 143 runs to win, while South Africa needed five wickets to claim a 2-0 Test series win. The morning session, which has seen the most wickets fall in the Test, was going to be key.

Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva had put on a crucial stand during the last session on the fourth day to give Sri Lanka some hope of squaring the series with a win. The pitch still looked good for batting and it seemed like we would be in for a dramatic climax.

However, the Proteas, with Maharaj (5/76) leading from the front, took just over an hour to take the remaining five Sri Lankan wickets to win the match to clinch the series 2-0 following their win in the first Test in Durban.

Sri Lanka scored lost their remaining five wickets for 33 runs.

Mendis (46) was first to go when he edged to slip where Aiden Markram took a sharp low catch to break the 97-run sixth wicket partnership with De Silva.

Kagiso Rabada, who bowled without a lot of luck in the second innings, got the wicket of De Silva, caught behind shortly after the Sri Lankan captain had got to his 50.

The last three wickets fell quickly, with Maharaj claiming two more scalps and Marco Jansen finishing the match with his first ball of the day when Lahiru Kumara was caught off a wild slog.

Additional reporting by AFP

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