De Lange shines on debut as Sri Lanka battle

Debutant Marchant de Lange upstaged the two fast bowlers he grew up admiring as South Africa and Sri Lanka shared the honours on the first day of the second Test match at Kingsmead on Monday. De Lange, 21, took four for 60, after replacing the injured Vernon Philander, as Sri Lanka reached 289 for seven at stumps. Thilan Samaraweera made a patient 86 not out and shared a crucial sixth wicket partnership of 111 with another new cap, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal, who hit 58. Tall and strongly built, De Lange consistently bowled at more than 140kmh off a relatively short run-up to rip out three of Sri Lanka’s leading batsmen. De Lange took another wicket in the last over of the day when he had Thisara Perera caught at short leg to finish with four for 60. Asked which fast bowlers he had admired and tried to emulate as a youngster, De Lange replied: "The two who were playing today -- Dale (Steyn) and Morne (Morkel)." Morkel took two for 55, including the key wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, who became the first Sri Lankan to reach 10,000 runs in Tests before being bowled by Morkel for 31, but Steyn went wicketless. De Lange, who received a late call-up after Philander was ruled out by a knee injury, had Sri Lanka in trouble at 162 for five on a good batting pitch after dismissing Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews. "I heard last night that I was playing and Vernon gave me good advice. He told me to stay calm and keep it simple," he said. Veteran South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis said it had been an impressive performance by the young fast bowler from the small northern town of Tzaneen. "He was on the button from ball one. We’ve got some very exciting times. A few people were worried about our bowling attack a little while ago but that’s been put to bed. There are plenty of guys lining up." Kallis said the South Africans were satisfied with their day’s work on a good batting pitch on a hot, humid day. "We would have taken this if we had been offered it at the start of the day." Sri Lanka coach Geoff Marsh hailed what he said was "a bit of a breakthrough for us" after a sequence of low totals in the first innings of Test matches. He said of Samaraweera, who was not initially picked for the tour: "We’re really pleased that he is in the side. On this tour so far he’s played really well." Marsh said Chandimal had done what he had been picked to do. "He has played very well for us in one-day cricket. He’s worked really hard and we wanted someone to come in at number seven and give us that oomph. "He’s a very good player who can bat anywhere from one to seven. We hope today will be the start of a very good career. He’s got all the shots and he doesn’t mind playing them." Marsh admitted that the Sri Lankans had not been able to do much homework on De Lange, who was playing in only his 15th first-class match. "We struggled to get video of him because he’s played very little cricket. It’s great to see young kids coming through the system. He’s definitely got a lot of talent and he’s another exciting prospect in Test cricket." After Sri Lanka were beaten by an innings and 81 runs in the first Test in Centurion, Marsh said he was pleased that a fair pitch had been prepared for the second game. "This is a good Test wicket, definitely different from Centurion, which was a disappointing wicket," he said. Samaraweera was caught and bowled by leg-spinner Imran Tahir when he was on 50 but gained a reprieve when Tahir was no-balled -- a decision by umpire Steve Davis that was shown to be an error. Kallis said the South Africans accepted the decision. "It wouldn’t be fair to the batsman to change it if he had heard the call for no-ball and changed his shot, which I think he did." Samaraweera also survived a stumping chance to Mark Boucher off Tahir when he had 63. Chandimal, 22, justified the decision of the tour selectors to pick him as wicketkeeper ahead of Kaushal Silva because of his superior batting skills. Strong on the cut, he was not afraid to go for his shots in an 86-ball innings which included seven fours. Chandimal also had a life, with De Lange failing to pull down a leaping catch at mid-on off Tahir when he had 25. The second new ball was Chandimal’s undoing as he flashed wildly at a short, lifting delivery from Morkel to be caught behind by Boucher.