A splendid exhibition of spin bowling by Prenelan Subrayen gave South Africa A the advantage before Sri Lanka A fought back to leave the second four-day match finely poised in Benoni.
The KZN Dolphins star claimed 6-64 in 22 overs to turn the game on its head and bowl out the tourists for 319 – an innings deficit of 15 – before the hosts then reached stumps on 112-3.
That gave them a lead of 127 with every result possible on Wednesday, the final day of the series.
It was a good comeback from the South Africans after they were put under pressure for a large part of the day by Lahiru Udara, who completed an excellent century.
The opener struck 129 off 192 balls (16 fours, one six) and was the mainstay for his side, carrying them from their overnight score of 134-2 to 236-2.
He put on 179 for the third wicket with his captain Pasindu Sooriyabandara (92 off 166 balls; nine fours, one six), before home captain Neil Brand (2-45) finally claimed the first wicket of the day when he bowled the former.
The latter continued to thwart SA as he added a further 36 with Janith Liyanage (14) to carry his side to 272-3.
But that was when the Subrayen show began, with the off-break bowler claiming six of the remaining seven wickets to ensure his side ended the innings with a lead.
In all, Sri Lanka lost their last seven wickets for 47 to gift the home side a slight advantage at the changeover.
But three wickets – Brand (seven), Tshepang Dithole (19) and Marques Ackerman (six) – were lost early in the second innings to leave SA A in trouble on 68-3, just 83 runs ahead at that stage.
However, a vital unbroken 44-run fourth-wicket partnership between Jean du Plessis (45*) and Dewald Brevis (29*) led the recovery, giving their side the chance to force a result on day four.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
