Sangakkara puts Sri Lanka ahead

Kumar Sangakkara fell 11 runs short of a century as Sri Lanka began to build a lead over South Africa on day four of the second Test at Centurion on Monday.

When bad light and a looming thunderstorm stopped play 28 overs early, Sri Lanka were 180 for three in their second innings, a lead of 55, with Mahele Jayawardene 40 not out and Hashan Tillakaratne yet to score.

South Africa were earlier dismissed for 448 in their first innings, with captain Shaun Pollock left stranded just a run short of his third Test century.

There was a 20-minute delay shortly after tea as umpires Daryl Harper and Russell Tiffin called for the floodlights to be turned on as thunder clouds gathered in the distance.

Even once the lights were fully functional, visibility was poor, but Sangakkara and Jayawardene turned down the offer of bad light in favour of extending Sri Lanka's lead.

It did not work in their favour, however, as shortly afterwards Sangakkara he was superbly caught down the leg side off Makhaya Ntini by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.

He made a brave and fluent 89 in a little under three hours off 132 balls and hit 15 fours. His partnership with Jayawardene for the third wicket was worth 119 runs.

Ten minutes later Jayawardene and Tillakaratne chose to accept the offer of light in conditions that were becoming dangerous.

The Sri Lankan second innings did not start well, although there was a huge dose of misfortune about the dismissal of opener Jehan Mubarak for 15.

The young left-hander was given out caught behind to Ntini, although television replays clearly showed he had made no contact with the ball.

Stand-in captain Marvan Atapattu followed shortly after lunch for 22, caught behind as he flashed loosely at the second ball of the day from Jacques Kallis.

At the start of play Pollock moved from 78 to 99 with the minimum of bother, pulling Muttiah Muralitharan over mid-wicket for six and intelligently protecting number 11 Ntini from the strike.

With his captain needing one run for his century, Ntini tried to drive Chaminda Vaas over mid-off and was caught by Russel Arnold for eight.

Pollock looked to the heavens in frustration before heading for the pavilion. His undefeated 99 came in just over four hours, during which he faced 170 balls and struck nine fours and two sixes.

POLLOCK MISSES OUT ON CENTURY

Shaun Pollock said he held no hard feelings against Makhaya Ntini after the tail-ender denied his captain a century.

"Obviously it's disappointing," Pollock said afterwards. "You like to get Test hundreds. But there's nothing I can do now -- you just have to put it behind you. I was talking to Makhaya as we went along to try and get certain game plans in place.

"When he hit that shot I just turned around hoping the guy would drop it but he managed to get underneath it.

"I suppose you've got to forgive him because he's come in and bowled really well and taken two wickets. All is forgiven."

Despite the loss of 28 overs, Pollock still believed his team were in with a chance of winning the Test.

"The game's obviously in the balance and if we can strike early and pick up two wickets we might have a chance.

"(Mahele) Jayawardene and (Hashan) Tillakaratne have been playing well, but if we can break that partnership there's a long tail, so hopefully we could bowl them out and chase whatever we have to," Pollock said.

Pollock also made light of a controversial moment when he raised his hands, apparently playfully, to Sri Lankan batsman Mahele Jayawardene.

The incident happened after Jayawardene top-edged a Pollock bouncer. The Sri Lankan was clearly unhappy with the South African captain's behaviour, but Pollock insisted there was no malicious intent.

"I was just joking with him. I walked over to pat him on his helmet and tell him 'You jammy little so-and-so'," Pollock said. "I don't think he appreciated me touching him which is understandable, but I had a chat with him just now and it's fine.

"It was done in a good spirit on my part".

Match report: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Mail Cricket Editor