Marco Jansen and Thando Ntini shared nine wickets as South Africa Emerging held the advantage after the penultimate day of their final four-day encounter against Sri Lanka Emerging in Pretoria on Saturday.

The hosts closed day three on 92-1, a lead of 145, and in a strong position to ensure that they at least draw the game.

Shukri Conrad’s side lead the series 1-0 and a shared result in this final game at the LC de Villiers Oval will ensure they win the two-game sequence.

But they had to work hard to get through the Sri Lanka tail after a century by Promod Maduwantha (111 off 236 balls, 9 fours) glued the innings together.

The 22-year-old shared an 83-run seventh-wicket stand with Chamika Karunaratne (53 off 97 balls, 4 fours) that proved key to the Asian side closing the deficit, which eventually proved to be just 53.

Jansen ended as pick of the bowlers with 5-69, while Ntini bagged 4-76.

Late last month, Ntini clinched telling figures of 5-46 in a key limited-overs fixture against Sri Lanka Emerging. He opened the bowling alongside left-arm seamer Nandre Burger in that match. Burger recently moved from the Lions to the Cape Cobras.

Photo: Gallo Images