Kagiso Rabada took three wickets in two overs as South Africa sent Sri Lanka crashing to a 282-run defeat on the fourth day of the second Test at Newlands on Thursday. Fast bowler Rabada finished with six for 55 as Sri Lanka crumbled to 224 all out, giving South Africa a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. It took South Africa less than two hours to claim the remaining six wickets after the tourists resumed on 130 for four.

Overnight batsmen Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal played out the first five overs of the day without undue alarm before Rabada struck with the first ball of the sixth over when Chandimal (30) flicked him straight to Stephen Cook at square leg, the only fielder in a largely unmanned area of the field.

New batsman Upul Tharanga showed aggressive intent and hit Rabada for three fours, one off an edge, before flashing at a wide delivery from the first ball of the fast bowler?s next over to be caught behind by Quinton de Kock. Sri Lankan captain Mathews fell to the last ball of the over, edging a lifting delivery to De Kock after making top score of 49 off 82 balls.

Rabada struck once more when he had Suranga Lakmal caught behind. It was the fifth time in his 13-Test career that he had taken five or more wickets in an innings. He had match figures of 10 for 92, his second ten-wicket haul. There was a flurry of strokes from Rangana Herath and Lahiru Kumara, who put on 33 for the ninth wicket before Keshav Maharaj and Vernon Philander wrapped up South Africa's win.

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews said poor batting was the main reason for his team's 282-run defeat. "The batsmen let the team down," said Mathews after the South African fast bowlers, led by man of the match Kagiso Rabada, finished off the tourists 15 minutes before lunch. "The batsmen let the team down," said Mathews. "The bowlers did a good job but the batsmen did not put enough runs on the board." Mathews said the third and final Test in Johannesburg, starting on January 12, provided a chance for the batsmen to show their mettle.

SCOREBOARD South Africa, first innings, 392 Sri Lanka, first innings, 110 South Africa, second innings, 224-7 declared.

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Sri Lanka, second innings (overnight 130-4)

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D. Karunaratne b Philander                6

K. Silva c Cook b Rabada                 29

K. Mendis c Elgar b Philander             4

D. de Silva lbw b Rabada                 22

A. Mathews c De Kock b Rabada            49

D. Chandimal c Cook b Rabada             30

U. Tharanga c De Kock b Rabada           12

R. Herath not out                        35

S. Lakmal c De Kock b Rabada             10

L. Kumara st De Kock b Maharaj            9

N. Pradeep b Philander                    5

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Extras: (b6, lb5, nb2)                   13

Total: (62 overs)                       224

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Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Karunaratne), 2-25 (Mendis), 3-66 (Silva), 4-69 (De Silva), 5-144 (Chandimal), 6-165 (Tharanga), 7-166 (Mathews), 8-171 (Lakmal), 9-211 (Kumara)

Bowling: Abbott 15-3-46-0, Philander 14-1-48-3 (1nb), Rabada 17-3-55-6 (1nb), Maharaj 16-3-64-1

Result: South Africa won by 282 runs

Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0

Toss: Sri Lanka

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV umpire: Bruce Oxenford (AUS)

Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

Remaining match:

January 12-16, Johannesburg.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017