Nissanka leads strong Sri Lanka batting reply

Patham Nissanka scored 89 to lead Sri Lanka’s strong batting effort on the second day of the second Test against South Africa at St George’s Park on Friday. Batsman Nissanka looked set for his third Test century before he charged down the wicket against left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, missing a huge effort. Until then, Nissanka’s only blemish was missing a chance to David Bedingham at first slip off Kagiso Rabada.When the batsman scored 22 runs. Nissanka faced 157 balls and hit 11 fours and a six. “It was great to see Pathum but he will have himself to blame for the way he got out,” Sri Lanka’s batting coach Thalina said. “The bowlers were tired, the wicket was flat and he missed. Even I couldn’t believe it, but there was clearly a lack of focus.Nissanka shared a partnership of 41 with Dimuth Karunaratne (20), 109 with Dinesh Chandimal (44) and 49 with Angelo Mathews, who finished the day on 40 not out.Kamindu Mendes joined Mathews after Nsanka’s dismissal and batted brilliantly, scoring 30 runs in an unbeaten partnership of 43 runs. In contrast, South Africa won by 233 runs.”We all knew where we went wrong in the first innings in Durban. We went after too many balls outside the off-stump. These things happen in Test cricket. The boys were up for the challenge,” said Kendambi. Kandambi added that the match was evenly poised but Sri Lanka had a chance to take charge by taking a big first-innings lead. 89 runs for the loss of couples