Kallis, De Villiers Batter Sri Lanka In 3rd Test

Cape Town, Jan 5: Jacques Kallis made a career-best 224 and AB de Villiers 160 not out as South Africa battered Sri Lanka's bowlers to declare on 580-4 on the second day of the series-deciding third test at Newlands.

Sri Lanka was 149-2 in its first innings at stumps on Wednesday, trailing by 431 and needing more than its highest total in South Africa just to avoid the follow-on.

Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan was out for 78 late in the day to legspinner Imran Tahir for an important wicket for the Proteas after the tourists made a positive start to their daunting reply.

Kumar Sangakkara was 35 not out and Mahela Jayawardene survived two late lbw appeals to be 7 not out, but Dilshan's rapid 79-ball innings with 12 fours will have given Sri Lanka hope that it can make inroads into South Africa's ominous total on a dry, placid pitch. The Proteas hope the surface will deteriorate later in the match with a large lead and three days still to play.

Kallis earlier celebrated his 150th test with his best score to spearhead South Africa's rampant batting performance at his home ground.

"The special part is probably getting it at Newlands. It's nice to get a big one here, especially with the series 1-1 and we needed some big performances from the guys," Kallis said. "It was nice that I could be one of those guys that put in a big performance."

Before falling on the stroke of lunch, Kallis shared a 192-run partnership with De Villiers, who went on to a 13th test hundred in a 127-run stand with Jacques Rudolph. Rudolph finished 51 not out when Graeme Smith called the pair in 40 minutes before tea.

Having been put in to bat, South Africa posted its highest score against Sri Lanka and the fourth highest total at the Cape Town ground as Kallis and De Villiers let loose.

"We didn't want to watch him bat but he was fantastic," Sri Lanka coach Geoff Marsh said of Kallis. "One of the greats."

South Africa added 233 for the loss of just Kallis after being 347-3 overnight. Three of South Africa's top five batsmen made centuries — and No. 6 Rudolph an unbeaten half-century — and the Proteas cashed in with successive partnerships of 205, 192 and an unbroken stand of 127 following the early loss of Smith and Hashim Amla on day one.

Kallis shared a double-century partnership with opener Alviro Petersen (109) on the first day.

"We were disappointed with our bowling," Marsh said. "We didn't keep the pressure on them enough. The first session tomorrow is important. Actually, the whole test match is going to be important for us now because we've got to play catch-up cricket.

"But if we can manage to get to the follow-on, the game opens up a bit."

On 159 overnight, the 36-year-old Kallis continued to punish Sri Lanka's bowling on Wednesday to reach his second test double century off 280 balls.

He took no time to find his range on the second morning in Cape Town with fours off the first two deliveries he faced. He drove his first ball to the boundary and pulled another through square leg straight after.

He also survived two dropped catches by Jayawardene in the slips. Jayawardene missed a chance off seamer Dhammika Prasad at second slip when Kallis was on 171 and then another, tougher chance at first slip with Kallis on 183.

But other than that, Kallis was in imperious form to keep South Africa rolling relentlessly on.

He removed his helmet to again salute his home crowd and South Africa's dressing room after marking his 100 and 150 in the same way on Tuesday. Kallis passed his previous highest score of 201 not out with a cut to backward point to celebrate his milestone match with a career-best total. He thrust his bat into the air in delight.

He hammered 10 fours in the day's first session and added 106 runs alongside De Villiers before he finally fell just a minute and three balls from the lunch break.

Sri Lanka's beleaguered bowlers finally broke through for their only wicket of the day when the right-handed veteran mistimed a drive straight to mid-on fielder Angelo Mathews off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. Kallis faced 325 balls and batted for over seven hours.

De Villiers hit 19 fours and two sixes in his 160 off 205 balls and played like a limited-overs batsman in the second session with reverse sweeps and slogs over mid-on for six as a dominant South Africa chased quick runs before the declaration.

Prasad had 2-154 for Sri Lanka's best return, while Herath had 1-108, as the tourists conceded their highest score against South Africa.

Sri Lanka opener Lahiru Thirimanne was bowled by Morne Morkel for 23 to break a promising 70-run opening stand with Dilshan.

The captain fell in the final hour of play when his lofted drive down the ground off Tahir produced a running, diving catch from counterpart Smith at long-on.

South Africa's bowlers and fielders still face a tough slog to claim the match and a first series win in three years.

"Fortunately we've batted at a good rate so we've given ourselves some extra time to try and bowl them out twice," Kallis said. "We believe we can get 20 wickets, definitely."