Close South Africa 51 for 0 trail Sri Lanka 192 (Jayawardene 39, Kallis 3-35) by 141 runs
Scorecard

Jacques Kallis led a South African pace onslaught that destroyed Sri Lanka on the opening day of the first Test at the historic Wanderers ground. Kallis took three wickets in six balls after tea as Sri Lanka collapsed from 137 for 3 to 141 for 7, before Hashan Tillekeratne and Muttiah Muralitharan inched them to 192. In reply, South Africa eased to 51 for 0 by stumps.

Kallis finished with figures of 3 for 35, and his devastating burst after tea was ample reward for some large-hearted and clever seam bowling. Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya had added 51 for the fourth wicket when Kallis shaped one away from Jayawardene's bat. He had played, missed and edged throughout his innings of 39, but this time there was no reprieve as Mark Boucher took an easy catch.

In his next over, Kallis went one better, getting Jayasuriya - who made 32 - to fend off a brute of a bouncer to Graeme Smith at third slip. Debutant Hasantha Fernando lasted just three balls before mistiming a hook to square leg. And when Andrew Hall had Chaminda Vaas edging one to Kallis at second slip, Sri Lanka found themselves sipping tea at 141 for 7. Tillekeratne and the tail provided some resistance before he was last man out, attempting a second run to fine leg in a bid to keep the strike.

South Africa went into the match with five fast bowlers on a pitch that had plenty of encouragement for them and which resembled the lightning-fast Wanderers pitches of days gone by. There was a distinct greenish tinge to it, and the bounce troubled the batsmen from ball one. It made Jayasuriya's decision to bat first all the more surprising, though he clearly had his mind on Murali running amok as the match wore on.

Russel Arnold's promotion to the top of the order wasn't a success as Makhaya Ntini dismissed him for 0, caught by Smith at third slip.

Marvan Atapattu added 44 for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara, and 42 for the third with Jayawardene, but at no stage did the batting look convincing. It wasn't so much playing and missing, as missing and occasionally playing.

Steve Elworthy was especially unlucky, finishing with just one wicket, though he want past the outside edge with unerring regularity. At the age of 37, it was only his third Test appearance, four years on from his last, in New Zealand. Elworthy and Hall were drafted in after the selectors dropped Nantie Hayward and Claude Henderson from the XI that routed Bangladesh last month.

There was another enforced change when Herschelle Gibbs pulled out after hurting his back in the pre-match warm-up. Martin van Jaarsveld was summoned from Centurion, 30 miles away, and took the field only 80 minutes into the first session. van Jaarsveld had also played against Bangladesh, but had originally been omitted in favour of Neil McKenzie before fate intervened.

Smith and Kirsten, who passed 6000 Test runs when he reached 19, played out 12 overs before the close, troubled only by Muralitharan's guile in the final over. There is little doubt that Murali will be the only obstacle as South Africa look to pile up a substantial first-innings lead. Sri Lankan cricket, away from home, has become that one-dimensional - the pack consisting of ten jokers and one ace.

Teams
Sri Lanka 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Russel Arnold, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), 6 Hashan Tillekaratne, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Dilhara Fernando, 9 Hasantha Fernando, 10 Ruchira Perera, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

South Africa 1 Gary Kirsten, 2 Graeme Smith, 3 Martin van Jaarsveld, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Neil McKenzie, 6 Ashwell Prince, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Shaun Pollock (capt), 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Steve Elworthy.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd