South Africa 386 beat Sri Lanka 192 and 130 (Atapattu 42, Ntini 3-22, Hall 3-1) by an innings and 64 runs
Scorecard

South Africa steamrollered to their third successive innings win of the home season as their fast bowlers overwhelmed Sri Lanka on the third day of the first Test at Johannesburg. South Africa followed two easy victories over Bangladesh by winning at the Wanderers by an innings and 64 runs – their fifth win in six Tests against Sri Lanka at home.

Shaun Pollock, South Africa's captain, and Makhaya Ntini started the collapse on an untrustworthy pitch. Both took two wickets in their opening spells as Sri Lanka, trailing by 194 on the first innings after South Africa were bowled out for 386, crashed to 25 for 4. Ntini went on to finish with 3 for 22.

Andrew Hall wrapped up proceedings by taking the last three wickets for just one run. The match finished midway between lunch and tea on the third day, in overcast conditions with the floodlights on. Moments after Ruchira Perera played on to give Hall his third wicket and end the match it started raining, and soon a full-scale thunderstorm was drenching the ground.

But it was too late to save Sri Lanka. They had made a disastrous start to their second innings when Ntini inflicted a pair on Russel Arnold in the second over. Arnold was out to the first ball he faced, caught by Jacques Kallis at second slip. Ntini's second wicket came with the help of a sensational catch by the wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, with a full-length salmon-leap to his right to clutch a leg-glance from the left-handed Kumar Sangakkara.

Pollock had Mahela Jayawardene caught off his glove by Gary Kirsten at short leg, and then bowled his opposite number Sanath Jayasuriya for 0.

Marvan Atapattu survived the initial onslaught, although he played and missed several times, and grafted to 43 from 92 balls, with eight handy fours. He and Hashan Tillekeratne put on 52 for the fifth wicket before Steve Elworthy removed Atapattu and Hasantha Fernando, who completed a pair on his Test debut and looks overplaced at No. 7.

Apart from Atapattu and Tillekeratne, who managed 27 before becoming the first of Hall's three victims, the only other player to reach double figures was Chaminda Vaas, who hit out for a breezy 32 from just 30 balls.

Earlier South Africa lost their three remaining first- innings wickets in 13 minutes and 2.4 overs at the start of play, and added only eight runs to their overnight 378 for 7. Kallis was caught behind off a sharp lifter from Vaas without adding to his overnight 75, and Muttiah Muralitharan mopped up the other two wickets.

Afterwards Jayasuriya made no attempt to hide his disappointment at his team's performance. "We had the best opportunity because we won the toss and should have put runs on the board," he said. "Unfortunately the batsmen didn't bat well and then the bowlers didn't bowl well ... South Africa bowled very well and kept the pressure on us but we should have done better, especially in the first innings."

Pollock was predictably upbeat: "We got the ball in the right place. The guys have been working very hard in the nets."

The second and final Test starts at Centurion on Friday (Nov 15). Sri Lanka will be praying for a better pitch – this one had big cracks in it by the third day – but need a more disciplined approach if they are not to be overwhelmed in this short series.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd