Keshav Maharaj’s dismissal of Kusal Mendis set the tone of the Sri Lanka innings and earned our Play of the Day.
Mendis had decided to take on the wily left-arm spinner, going down on one knee to smash him over cow corner at Newlands for six.
So pleased was he with his effort, that he decided to do it again, but he misjudged Maharaj’s bounce and he top-edged it to JP Duminy at short cover. Oh, such sweet revenge.
Apart from being risky, it was also unwise because he and Dimuth Karunaratne had been rebuilding after the dismissal of Kaushal Silva with the score on 31 – and it was the last over before tea.
With the departure of Mendis, it was 56-2. An hour after tea, it was 78-6 with Maharaj adding the scalp of Dhananjaya de Silva, trapped lbw as he played across the line to a straight one. The spinner bowled into the south-easterly wind, gaining much assistance from its gusts and adding to the batsmen’s uncertainty.
Photo: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix
