Spinners put Sri Lanka on cusp of Test series whitewash against South Africa

Proteas batsmen reeling on 139-5 in pursuit of improbable 490 in Colombo

Sri Lanka's Akila Dananjaya, centre, celebrates with his teammates after taking the wicket of South Africa's Keshav Maharaj. Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters

Sri Lanka closed in on a series whitewash against South Africa on Sunday, leaving the visitors five down and with a mountain to climb after the third day of the second Test.

By stumps the spinners had ripped their way through the Proteas batsmen yet again to leave them reeling on 139-5 in pursuit of an impossible-looking 490 victory target in Colombo.

Against batsmen who clearly decided that attack was the best form of defence, off-spinner Akila Dananjaya and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath took two wickets apiece, with off-spinner Dilruwan Perera also dismissing Dean Elgar.

The wickets fell despite a comedy of repeated errors from Sri Lanka, who dropped two catches, wasted both their reviews - on successive balls - and could have had Elgar out twice beforehand had Perera not overstepped.

He was reprieved on six when Perera bowled him, and later on 23 when caught behind. On the second occasion, he had even gone right back into the dressing room before being recalled to the middle.

"I was quite happy with that. That's never happened in my career," Elgar said afterwards.

But Perera finally got his man for 37, leaving South Africa 80 for two, from which they quickly slipped to 113 for five as Hashim Amla went for six, Faf du Plessis for seven and Keshav Maharaj first ball.

Amla had his off stump levelled by a straightening Herath delivery. Du Plessis was the first victim in Dananjaya's late double strike, when a ball he had inside-edged on to his pad popped up for a catch to slip.

By stumps, No 3 batsman Theunis de Bruyn, who survived two very close lbw shouts early in his innings, was 45 not out, with a chance of recording his team's first half-century of the series.

Temba Bavuma, who came to the crease with Dananjaya on a hat-trick, remained 14 not out.

But the South Africans are still staring down the barrel of their first series defeat by Sri Lanka since 2006, when they also suffered a whitewash - the last time the Proteas faced such a humiliation anywhere.

The world's No 2-ranked Test side have only three recognised batsmen remaining and two full days left to survive against Sri Lanka, currently ranked sixth after a string of defeats in recent times.

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Dimuth Karunaratne, right, ended up scoring 85 for Sri Lanka on Sunday. Ishara S Kodikara / AFP

King Karunaratne

Earlier, Sri Lanka added a further 125 runs to their already-mammoth 364-run lead, as acting captain Suranga Lakmal delayed the declaration until after halfway through the second session.

Dimuth Karunaratne made 85 - the third time in four innings he has top-scored for Sri Lanka - while Angelo Mathews completed a 29th career half-century before eventually being dismissed for 71.

Those were the only two breakthroughs South Africa could manage, as Sri Lanka's batsmen negotiated testing spells from the opposition quicks and their lone frontline spinner.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj took his match tally of wickets to 12 when he had Mathews caught at slip, and fast bowler Lungi Ngidi was the man to remove Karunaratne, having him caught behind for 85.

Dale Steyn went wicketless in this match, which means he has not yet broken the South Africa record for most wickets.

Steyn has been tied with Shaun Pollock at the top of his country's wicket-takers' list since the first Test in Galle, with 421 dismissals.

South Africa have not been whitewashed anywhere in the world since the two Test series in Sri Lanka in 2006.

Their bowlers toiled for 47 overs on Sunday but managed to dismiss just the overnight pair of Karunaratne and Mathews.

Sri Lanka's Danushka Gunathilaka is in trouble with the national cricket board. Eranga Jayawardena /AP Photo

Gunathilaka suspended

Batsman Danushka Gunathilaka has been suspended over a misconduct charge in the middle of Sri Lanka's second Test against South Africa, the country's cricket board said Sunday.

The 27-year-old opener will be barred from all forms of the game pending the outcome of an investigation, the board said, without specifying the alleged misconduct.

The suspension will go into effect after the Test is concluded in Colombo, it added.

The board will also "withhold Gunathilaka’s fee for the ongoing Test match until the outcome of the inquiry", it said.

The batsman scored 57 and 61 runs in the second and final Test, with Sri Lanka on track for a series whitewash after trouncing the visitors in Galle last week.

South Africa were 5/139 chasing an impossible-looking 490 target at close of play Sunday.

Another member of Sri Lanka's Test squad, leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, was on Friday given a suspended one-year ban from international cricket after pleading guilty to misconduct during last month's tour of the West Indies.