Amla stands among ruins as Perera and Herath torment South Africa

Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera took five wickets, his first fiver haul, for Sri Lanka. Lakruwan Wanniarachchi / AFP

COLOMBO // The Sri Lankan spinners troubled South Africa with their consistency, barring Hashim Amla, as the visitors took the driver's seat in the second and final Test.
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera (5-69) grabbed a five-wicket haul, his second in five Tests, while left-armer Rangana Herath chipped in with four for 71. A gritty 139 not out by captain Amla was not enough, though, to prevent the hosts from being bowled out for just 282. Sri Lanka, 11 runs without loss in the second innings, were 150 runs ahead at close of play on Day 3.
Amla, 31, batted for more than eight hours while the spinners shared nine wickets at the other end.
"There were phases when the runs dried up," South African coach Russell Domingo said. "It was tough scoring runs.
"It wasn't easy for us because of the consistency of their spinners. It would have been great if we had scored 100 more runs – 140-odd is a big lead, it's a substantial lead. Sri Lanka are obviously in a very good position."
For Amla, it was his first century as South Africa's Test captain. He faced 382 balls and hit 12 fours in his marathon effort. It was also the first by a South African captain in Sri Lanka, and proved crucial to help the visitors avoid the embarrassment of a follow-on.
The innings was wrapped up in the final session with Herath having Dale Steyn (30) caught by Kumar Sangakkara and Imran Tahir (15) by Upul Tharanga at deep mid-off. Perera then sent back Morne Morkel for a duck to bowl out the Proteas with five overs remaining in the day.
South Africa lost Jean-Paul Duminy and Vernon Philander (nine) to spin in the second session, during which they put on 71 runs at less than three runs an over.
Duminy (three) fiddled around for more than an hour before he was stumped by Niroshan Dickwella off Herath, while Philander was bowled by Perera.
Perera said the defensive approach by the South Africans had boomeranged on them.
"We thought they were trying to play for a draw," Perera said. "We managed to get a good lead because they batted defensively.
"At the moment, we do not have a target in mind. But if we get about 200 runs more, we will be in a very good position."
Amla, dropped on 93 at short cover by Silva, completed his 22nd Test hundred with a single off Herath, a fitting reward for his lonely toil on the crease.
In the first session, Herath got rid of AB de Villiers (37) and Quinton de Kock for a duck in the space of three balls after South Africa had resumed at their overnight 98 for three.
Amla and De Villiers started positively and saw off the first hour without harm. But just when the partnership was building up, Perera's double-strike reduced South Africa to 150 for five.
He first had De Villiers trapped plumb in front and then knocked the off-stump of De Kock.
Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE