Sri Lanka were bowled out for 42. Not 420 42. Marco Jansen took 7 wickets in that single innings, and by the time the series ended, South Africa hadn’t just won they’d climbed to the top of the World Test Championship table.
That’s the real headline behind this scorecard, buried underneath a search result landscape that, for this exact keyword, is oddly cluttered with Under-19 and women’s cricket links instead.
Which South Africa vs Sri Lanka Match Are You Looking For?
Before the scorecard, a genuinely necessary clarification.
Searches for this keyword can easily surface three completely different competitions: the senior men’s national teams (covered here), an Under-19 World Cup fixture between the two countries’ youth sides, and a separate Sri Lanka Women vs South Africa Women match. This article covers the senior men’s national teams’ most recent Test series played in South Africa in November and December 2024.
Series Result: Both Tests at a Glance
| Match | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Test, 27-30 November 2024 | Kingsmead, Durban | South Africa won by 233 runs |
| 2nd Test, 5-9 December 2024 | St George’s Park, Gqeberha | South Africa won by 109 runs |
South Africa won the two-match series 2-0, earning maximum points (12-0) and moving to the top of the World Test Championship table.
1st Test, Kingsmead, Durban: Full Scorecard
| Team | 1st Innings | 2nd Innings |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 191 all out (49.4 ov) | 366/5 declared (100.4 ov) |
| Sri Lanka | 42 all out (13.5 ov) | 282 all out (79.4 ov) |
Key performances
| Player | Team | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Temba Bavuma | South Africa | 70 (1st innings), 113 (2nd innings) |
| Tristan Stubbs | South Africa | 122 (2nd innings) |
| Marco Jansen | South Africa | 7/13 (SL 1st innings), 4/73 (SL 2nd innings) |
| Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 83 (2nd innings) |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | Sri Lanka | 59 (2nd innings) |
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South Africa posted 191 in their first innings at Kingsmead, Durban. Sri Lanka then collapsed to just 42 all out in 13.5 overs, with Marco Jansen taking 7 wickets for 13 runs. South Africa built on that dominant position, declaring their second innings at 366 for 5, with Temba Bavuma scoring 113 and Tristan Stubbs contributing 122.
Sri Lanka’s second innings fared much better, reaching 282, with Dinesh Chandimal scoring 83 and Dhananjaya de Silva adding 59, but it wasn’t enough. South Africa won by 233 runs.
Turning Point: A First Innings That Ended the Contest Before It Began
Here’s what most recaps get wrong. They treat Sri Lanka’s 42 all out as simply a bad session, when it was actually the single most decisive passage of play across the entire series.
But here’s the real problem with reducing it to a bad session Marco Jansen took 7 wickets in just 6.5 overs, meaning Sri Lanka’s entire innings ended before most bowlers would complete a full spell. What most people miss is that a collapse this severe changes the psychological complexion of an entire Test, not just the scoreboard Sri Lanka were chasing the game from the very first afternoon, and South Africa’s batters got to build their eventual 366/5 declared total with zero pressure on the scoreboard.
Player Performance Breakdown: 1st Test
Temba Bavuma’s twin contributions 70 in the first innings, then a match-defining 113 in the second reflect a captain building a series-opening performance match by match rather than arriving at his best form immediately.
Bold opinion worth stating plainly: Marco Jansen’s 7/13 deserves to be remembered as one of the most devastating individual bowling spells in this specific fixture’s history, not just a good day with the ball bowling a Test-class batting lineup out for 42 is a genuinely rare occurrence, and it set the tone for South Africa’s dominance across the entire series. Tristan Stubbs’ 122 in the second innings, batting alongside Bavuma, turned an already-winning position into a declaration total that gave South Africa’s bowlers a full two days to force the result.
2nd Test, St George’s Park, Gqeberha: Full Scorecard
| Team | 1st Innings | 2nd Innings |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 358 all out (103.4 ov) | 317 all out (86 ov) |
| Sri Lanka | 328 all out (99.2 ov) | 238 all out (69.1 ov) |
Key performances
| Player | Team | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Temba Bavuma | South Africa | 66 |
| Aiden Markram | South Africa | 55 |
| Keshav Maharaj | South Africa | 5/76 (SL 2nd innings) |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 5/129 (SA 2nd innings) |
Moving to the second Test at St George’s Park, Gqeberha, South Africa posted 358 in their first innings, with Temba Bavuma scoring 66 and Aiden Markram adding 55. Sri Lanka responded with 328, showing genuine resistance. South Africa’s second innings reached 317, with Prabath Jayasuriya taking 5 for 129. Sri Lanka, needing to bat out the final day or chase down a target, were bowled out for 238, with Keshav Maharaj taking 5 for 76. South Africa won by 109 runs, completing the series sweep.
Turning Point: A Lower-Order Collapse That Sealed the Series
This is where things go wrong for a team needing a big final-day partnership. Sri Lanka lost five wickets for just 19 runs in 62 balls on the final morning, a collapse that undid the recovery work their middle order had built the previous day.
Counterintuitive idea worth stating plainly: a team can bat competitively for most of an innings and still lose in dramatic fashion if the tail collapses in a short, sharp burst the raw scoreline of South Africa winning by 109 runs doesn’t fully capture how close Sri Lanka actually were to making this a genuine final-day contest before that specific 62-ball spell ended it.
Player Performance Breakdown: 2nd Test
Temba Bavuma’s 66 and Aiden Markram’s 55 gave South Africa the platform in the first innings that ultimately proved decisive. Keshav Maharaj’s 5/76 in Sri Lanka’s second innings was the wicket-taking performance that actually finished the match and the series his figures reflect a spinner specifically targeting a lineup that had shown genuine resistance the day before.
Practical observation worth noting for Sri Lanka’s team management: Prabath Jayasuriya’s 5/129 against South Africa’s second innings shows their bowling attack was competitive throughout the series the difference between the two sides was consistently in the batting depth and the ability to avoid rapid collapses, not in bowling quality.
What This Series Meant for the World Test Championship
A 2-0 series sweep is significant on its own, but the context matters just as much. This result moved South Africa to the top of the World Test Championship table at the time a position built on maximum points from this series alone.
Practical takeaway for anyone tracking the WTC cycle: series against sides outside the traditional “big three” of Test cricket are sometimes undervalued in casual analysis, but they carry identical points weighting in the WTC standings, meaning a clean sweep like this one has genuine championship-race significance regardless of the opponent’s overall ranking.
Bold opinion worth stating plainly: South Africa’s specific method of winning this series a first-innings demolition in Durban, followed by a tighter but still comprehensive win in Gqeberha reflects a team capable of winning in more than one way. That versatility, dominating early in one match and grinding out a result through a final-morning collapse in the other, is a genuinely valuable trait heading into tougher World Test Championship assignments against stronger opposition.
Why Session-by-Session Detail Matters More Than the Final Scoreline
There’s a broader lesson worth drawing from this series about how collapses shape entire matches, not just innings.
Common mistake in reading a Test scorecard: focusing only on the final totals and margins, while ignoring exactly when a collapse happened within an innings. A team bowled out for 238 after resisting well for most of the day tells a completely different story than a team bowled out for 238 from the very first hour, even though the final number looks identical on paper.
Practical step for anyone analysing a Test match result: always check the session-by-session breakdown before drawing conclusions about which team actually controlled the game, because the raw scorecard alone can hide exactly how a result actually unfolded.
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What Each Side Should Take Into Future Series
Sri Lanka’s bowling attack deserves more credit than a 2-0 series defeat usually allows. Prabath Jayasuriya’s 5/129 in the second Test and a generally competitive showing with the ball across both matches suggest their bowling unit was never the primary problem in this series.
Real decision worth highlighting for Sri Lanka’s team management: the specific pattern of rapid batting collapses 42 all out in the first Test and 5 wickets for 19 runs on the final morning of the second points to a batting depth and temperament issue rather than a bowling or overall talent gap between the two sides. Addressing that specific fragility, rather than making wholesale changes to the bowling attack, is the more targeted fix heading into future series.
For South Africa, this series offers a genuinely repeatable template. Marco Jansen’s ability to run through a top order in a single session, combined with Bavuma’s proven capacity to build match-defining innings across both Tests, gives South Africa’s team management a clear picture of their most valuable match-winning assets heading into tougher assignments.
Practical decision worth stating directly: continuing to build the bowling attack’s new-ball strategy around creating exactly the kind of collapse Jansen triggered in Durban, rather than relying purely on sustained pressure over a full day, is a proven approach worth protecting as South Africa target sustained success in the World Test Championship cycle.
Key Highlights and Records From the Series
| Highlight | Detail |
|---|---|
| Series result | South Africa won 2-0, taking maximum WTC points |
| Marco Jansen’s spell | 7/13 in Sri Lanka’s 1st innings of the 1st Test — bowled out for 42 |
| Temba Bavuma’s series | 70, 113, and 66 across both Tests — the most consistent performer |
| Tristan Stubbs’ innings | 122 in the 1st Test, building South Africa’s 366/5 declared |
| 2nd Test collapse | Sri Lanka lost 5 wickets for 19 runs in 62 balls on the final morning |
| Series-sealing figures | Keshav Maharaj, 5/76 in the 2nd Test’s final innings |
| WTC impact | South Africa moved to the top of the World Test Championship table |
FAQs
Q1. Who won the South Africa vs Sri Lanka Test series in 2024-25?
Ans. South Africa won the two-match series 2-0, winning the 1st Test in Durban by 233 runs and the 2nd Test in Gqeberha by 109 runs.
Q2. What happened when Marco Jansen bowled in Sri Lanka’s first innings of the 1st Test?
Ans. Marco Jansen took 7 wickets for just 13 runs, bowling Sri Lanka out for 42, one of the most dominant individual bowling spells in this fixture’s history.
Q3. Who was the standout batter across the series?
Ans. Temba Bavuma, who scored 70 and 113 in the 1st Test and 66 in the 2nd Test, was the most consistent individual performer for South Africa across both matches.
Q4. What did this series mean for South Africa in the World Test Championship?
Ans. The 2-0 sweep gave South Africa maximum points and moved them to the top of the World Test Championship table at the time.
Q5. Is this the same as the South Africa vs Sri Lanka Under-19 World Cup match?
Ans. No. That is a separate fixture between the two countries’ Under-19 age-group squads, distinct from the senior men’s national teams’ Test series covered in this article.