Rickelton, Bavuma hit fifties but Asitha breaks through just before tea

Tea South Africa 179 for 4 (Rickelton 72*, Kumara 2-38, Asitha 2-47) vs Sri Lanka

Temba Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton both brought up half-centuries in an afternoon session dominated by South Africa in perfect batting conditions at St George’s Park. After a tricky morning in windy conditions, the surface played to reputation and with no excessive bounce or movement and almost no turn at all, run-scoring was relatively easy going but the runs still had to be scored.

Rickelton, playing his first Test innings at No.3 but with a domestic average of 60.78 in the position, scored his first fifty in his eighth match through a combination of patience and powerful strokes. He was eclipsed by Bavuma, fresh off a century in Durban, batting more confidently than ever before in his 10-year Test career. His strike rate of 71.55 was as clear an indication as any of the ease at which he was collecting runs and he seemed set for another century. But at the stroke of tea, Bavuma gave it away when he tried to hook Asitha Fernando but gloved a simple catch to Kusal Mendis.

Sri Lanka’s three-seam, two-spin attack, who would have bowled first anyway if given the choice, tried to make something happen throughout the session with a variety of lengths. Asitha’s short ball barrage on Bavuma eventually got him the breakthrough but they were unable to replicate their success of the morning when they had South Africa 44 for 3.

In that time, Lahiru Kumara became the fifth Sri Lankan seamer to take 100 Test wickets and followed up from a strong start from Asitha, who removed Tony de Zorzi with his first ball. De Zorzi was given out lbw off an inswinging delivery on leg-stump and reviewed but both impact and wickets were umpire’s call and the decision stood. Kumara got rid of an aggressive-looking Aiden Markram, who was unafraid to throw his hands at wide balls and hit four fours in his 20 runs but was bowled as he went for a booming drive. Tristan Stubbs was Kumara’s 101st wicket when he reached for a wide delivery with hard hands and edged to Kusal, who took a good catch moving to his right.

Just as Sri Lanka may have seen an opportunity to bulldoze through, Bavuma had other ideas. He started like a batter who backed himself when he flicked Prabath Jayasuriya behind square to bring up South Africa’s fifty and finished the morning session by hitting Jayasuriya over mid-wicket and out of the ground.

South Africa got into gear immediately after lunch and took 10 runs off the second over of the second session from Asitha. Bavuma was particularly assertive on the drive and in the area through point, where he hit the single that brought up his half-century. It came off 57 balls, his second fastest in Tests after the 52-ball fifty in the innings where he scored his maiden hundred. Rickelton was more cautious and took 122 balls to reach fifty and never got ahead of himself. While Bavuma started to experiment with more inventive strokes, Rickelton bided his time and would resume post tea, without his captain. Bavuma’s innings ended with a perfect wagon wheel, with 39 runs scored either side of the wicket.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket