Elgar makes Sri Lankans toil

South African Invitation XI 323 for 6 (Elgar 78, Herath 2-44) v Sri Lankans
Scorecard

The Sri Lankan bowlers struggled through their first opportunity to play on South African pitches and conceded heavily on the second day of their warm-up match. No play was possible on the first day due to persistent rain and a wet outfield. On the second, South Africa's Invitation XI opted to bat first, denying the Sri Lankan batsmen time to adjust to local conditions. They capitalised on a pedestrian Sri Lankan attack and each of the top four scored half-centuries.

The Sri Lankans lost Nuwan Pradeep to a hamstring injury after he had bowled just 10 deliveries. Dilhara Fernando got better as the day went on while Angelo Matthews' first overs in a first-class match for more than a year went fairly well. In the spin department, Ajantha Mendis bowled the bulk of the overs and was worryingly inconsistent; Thilan Samaraweera and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan were acceptable as part-timers; and Rangana Herath was, by some distance, the team's best bowler.

For the Invitation XI, Dean Elgar showed both class and temperament and was the likeliest candidate to go on to record a century. Reeza Hendricks partnered him with aplomb, in an opening stand of 148, before Stiaan van Zyl and Rilee Rossouw built a 95-run partnership. When wickets fell, they did in clusters but the Invitation XI's batting was dominant for most of the day.

Of particular worry for the Sri Lankans will be that they struggled to adjust their lengths to the Benoni surface, which was a tame one. Although careful not to bowl too short, their bowlers were often too full and seldom bowled a good length.

Fernando got closest to understanding which length to bowl. His one perfect yorker bowled Hendricks. He also claimed the last wicket of the day, with the second new ball, after Thami Tsolekile edged to give Mahela Jayawardene a comfortable catch at second slip. In between those two successes, Fernando, like the rest of the attack, was a victim of a confident Invitation line-up, who found the boundary 43 times.

Mendis was introduced in the 8th over of the day and a combination of poor luck and the fact that he bowled at least one boundary ball an over meant he went for 4.68 runs an over while taking just one wicket. Dean Elgar picked him with particular ease. But when Mendis did bowl a good ball it was a very good one. He troubled Hendricks early on and had Farhaan Berhardien edge two fours down to third man. His solitary wicket, Elgar's, was achieved with surprising bounce. Elgar tried to cut and was caught after a bit of juggling by Jayawardene at slip.

Herath was more successful and bowled with good control, flight and guile. He picked up two of the three wickets that fell in the half hour before tea. Rossouw, who had been sweeping compulsively, came too far forward while attempting one and was stumped shortly after reaching his half-century. Then, Temba Bavuma became the only one of the top six to fail after his middle stump was uprooted.

Berhardien had a nervous start and looked particularly edgy against the spin of Mendis and Herath, but soon settled into a rhythm. He allowed himself a few risks, driving Fernando in the air over a diving Jayawardene at mid-on and pulling him majestically in the same over. With allrounder David Wiese with him at the crease, the Invitation XI will look to bat for a while yet, which would increase the Sri Lankan batsmen's concerns about when they will get time in the middle ahead of the three-Test series.