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Left-arm pacer Marco Jansen delivered a career-best performance, claiming exceptional figures of 7/13, as Sri Lanka crumbled to their lowest-ever Test score of 42 during the first innings of the Durban Test against South Africa on Thursday. The innings, which lasted a mere 13.5 overs, also marked the lowest total ever recorded by a team against South Africa in Test cricket. This collapse gave the hosts a 149-run lead, despite South Africa being bowled out earlier for 191 on Day 2.
The second day at Kingsmead witnessed dramatic action, with 16 wickets falling in total, following Day 1's rain-affected interruptions. Conditions that were expected to favor batting, with seam movement measured at 0.9 degrees and swing at 0.5 degrees (as noted by Mike Haysman on commentary), proved otherwise. Jansen, supported by Gerald Coetzee and Kagiso Rabada, dismantled the Sri Lankan batting line-up in just 83 deliveries. Jansen's feat made him only the second bowler in Test history, after Australia's Hugh Trumble in 1904, to claim seven wickets within seven overs of a Test innings.
Sri Lanka’s batting lineup struggled under the testing conditions, with five players—Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Prabhath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando, and Asitha Fernando—failing to score. Kamindu Mendis was the sole batsman to reach double figures, top-scoring with 13. Adding to South Africa’s challenges, seam-bowling all-rounder Wiaan Mulder could not take the field due to a fractured finger sustained while batting.
Key Stats:
42 runs: Sri Lanka's lowest total in Test history, surpassing their previous record of 71 against Pakistan in Kandy, 1994.
83 balls faced: This was the second-shortest Test innings by any team, following South Africa's collapse for 30 runs in 75 balls (12.3 overs) against England at Edgbaston in 1924.
7/13: Jansen's figures rank as the third-best bowling performance by a South African pacer on home soil and the best by a South African pacer in the 21st century.
This historic performance underscores Jansen’s growing stature as a leading force in international cricket, while Sri Lanka's batting frailty will undoubtedly invite scrutiny.
