Ken Borland

All-rounder Wiaan Mulder says the Proteas need to bowl the Sri Lankans out as quickly as possible on the second morning of the first Test at Centurion, to “lessen the damage” done by a tough first day with the ball for the South African team.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Sri Lanka posted 340 for six on the first day, generally holding the upper hand before Mulder, with three for 68 in 18 overs, sparked a fightback to give the Proteas some hope. But it was a day of toil for the South African attack, who fielded their most inexperienced pace quartet – with just 12 caps between them – since the Boxing Day Test against Australia in 1993.

“We started out a bit shaky and the nerves were through the roof. I’m sure it was pretty much the same for everyone, we all want to do a job for the team and I’m sure everyone handles the pressure differently. The senior players made sure they didn’t make any situation out there bigger or smaller than it was and we all just tried to keep it simple and be aggressive.

“We learnt a lot of lessons today and we need to get Sri Lanka out as soon as possible. If we can bowl them out early in the first session then we can lessen the damage of today and our batsmen can then go out and get a big score. The ball is nipping a bit, especially the new ball, but then it goes soft. If we can play the ball later and have a good defence then we’ll give ourselves the best chance,” Mulder said after the close of play at SuperSport Park.

While the Sri Lankan batsmen, especially the impressive Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored 79 not out before he had to retire hurt, were keen to dictate terms against the inexperienced attack, the 22-year-old Mulder had the nous to know he had to keep things simple under pressure.

“It was pretty simple what I had to do: I just tried to keep the ball on off-stump and bowl as many dot-balls as possible to try and get us back into the game. There was a little bit in the pitch, especially with the new ball up front. But it wasn’t a great ball to get my first wicket.” Opener Kushal Perera (16) aimed an extravagant slash at a wide delivery from Mulder and was caught behind.

“If we had bowled fuller, with more balls hitting the stumps and on a fourth-stump line then I think we would have taken more wickets. We had to keep it simple. Then Dhananjaya’s unlucky injury gave us a bit of a chance. But that sexy length was a bit short on this pitch and not as effective. But we are a very young team and we will click one of these days,” Mulder said.