Rickelton rides to the rescue with maiden Test ton

A gutsy maiden Test century by Ryan Rickelton steadied the Proteas’ ship as SA enjoyed a slight ascendancy at 269/7 at the end of day one of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha on Thursday. 

The stylish left-hander faced 250 balls for his 101, striking 11 fours in an innings that lasted little over six hours in front of a small crowd and under partially grey skies at St George’s Park. 

His efforts were backed up by a gritty 78 by skipper Temba Bavuma, while Kyle Verreynne remained unbeaten on 48 when stumps were drawn with Marco Jansen falling off the final ball of the day, bowled by Vishwa Fernando for just four. 

Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Proteas saw their plan for big runs severely halted when the visiting bowling attack tore into the top order.

Tony de Zorzi fell for a golden duck to Asitha Fernando while Aiden Markram (20) and Tristan Stubbs (4) fell victim to Lahiru Kumara as the Proteas slipped to 44/3. 

Newly promoted No 3 Rickelton and Bavuma then started the recovery as SA reached 82/3 at lunch.

After the break, the duo dug in as the skipper reached his 23rd Test half-century and a third score of 50 runs or more in the series, while Rickelton would follow suit a short while later to bring up his half-century in 124 deliveries.

The pair combined to record a fighting 133-run partnership for the fourth wicket, and were both looking to kick on and get their side moving in the right direction. 

They were unlucky not to reach the end of the afternoon session unbeaten, as Bavuma, who tried to up the ante, got bat on a delivery from Asitha that was caught by Kusal Mendis leaving SA on 179/4 at tea.

David Bedingham did not last long after the tea break either, as he was bowled by Prabath Jayasuriya, who took pace off his delivery to entice the right-hander to dance down the track.

Bedingham got nowhere near the ball as his wild swing resulted in him missing the ball, which crashed into his leg stump with the Proteas at 186 and half their side out.

Rickelton and wicketkeeper-batter Verreynne consolidated the innings to take the hosts past 200 in the 67th over with the former quietly moving into the eighties thanks to some solid batting.

In fading light, the duo continued to frustrate the Lankans’ bowling attack and as Rickelton slid into the nineties, their sixth wicket partnership moved past 50. 

Rickelton brought up his maiden ton with a double as he became the 10th Proteas batter to score a century in their past 10 Test matches dating back to 2023’s Boxing Day Test against India. 

Kumara grabbed a third wicket, the prized scalp of Rickelton, caught by Pathum Nissanka, having spent 373 minutes in the middle.