The Day Sri Lanka Cricket Faced Its Darkest Hour: A 42-Run Collapse in Durban

Cricket sometimes gives stories that seem unbelievable. This one is straight from Durban South Africa where the Sri Lankan team collapses like the House of Cards, getting all-out for just 42 runs registering the worst-ever batting performance by them.

How the game started:

The day started with South Africa batting first, scoring 191 runs, with an outstanding knock of 70 from Captain Temba Bavuma, as mentioned in the last article. At that time, Sri Lanka would have been happy with their bowling performance, but what followed next was beyond anyone's imagination: a collapsing ball by ball.

Pathum Nissanka was the first to go, falling to Marco Jansen. Jansen was in his own rhythm, the swing and movement which shows the way to the pavilion for Angelo Mathews and others. Five batsmen got out without scoring a single run only Kushal Mendis tried to resist by scoring 13 runs before becoming Jenson another victim. Only Lahiru Kumara was another batsman who joined Mendis in reaching double-digit figures.

Jenson Magical Spell:

Just after getting a pay raise($870K/Rs. 7Cr) in the IPL auction, Jenson delivered a spell for the history books.

• Bowled just 6.5 overs
• Took 7 wickets
• Gave away only 13 runs

Became the first bowler in 120 years to take seven wickets in less than seven overs.

Historic Numbers

The collapse was so quick that:

The whole innings lasted just 83 balls (about 14 overs)

• It became the second-shortest Test innings in cricket history
• This 42-run total is now Sri Lanka's lowest-ever Test score
• It ranks as the third-lowest total in the 21st century, after India's 36 and Ireland's 38.

A day that Sri Lankan fans would want to forget. Till the end of day 2 South Africa was batting for 140/3 in 40 overs.