GQEBERHA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 109 runs on the last morning of the second cricket test at St George's Park and swept the series 2-0 on Monday.
The odds favored South Africa, which needed five more wickets, while Sri Lanka needed 143 more runs in a chase of 348 and its last recognised batters were in the middle.
The Proteas ended the fightbacks of captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis in the first half hour, exposed the tail, and finished off Sri Lanka for 238 before lunch.
Spinner Keshav Maharaj took three of the five wickets and achieved his 11th career five-wicket haul, 5-76.
South Africa also consolidated its hopes of qualifying for a first World Test Championship final by moving to the top of the standings with two more home tests to come against Pakistan starting on Dec. 26.
“WTC table looks good,” Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said. “Want to continue what we're doing, enjoy the victory, and in a couple of weeks' time start speaking about Pakistan.”
Prabath Jayasuriya's five-for for Sri Lanka on Sunday signalled spinner counterpart Maharaj would have an important say on the last day, and he delivered. Resuming with 2-62, Maharaj got a thick outside edge off Mendis, and the only question was whether the ball carried to Aiden Markram at slip. Markram just got his fingers underneath.
Mendis, 39 overnight, left for 46, and ended a 97-run comeback with de Silva.
De Silva, also 39 overnight, reached his 18th test fifty and second of the series, but two balls later edged pacer Kagiso Rabada behind.
The tail held out for eight more overs as Sri Lanka plummeted from 205-5 overnight to 238 all out.
South Africa won the first test in Durban by 233 runs, including bowling out Sri Lanka for 42.
“This test for a lot of the guys was a proper test,” Bavuma said. “Rare that you get to play all five days, rare the game swings both sides. Credit to Sri Lanka for the way they went about their business, asked the right questions, they made us work hard for the win.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
South Africa's Tristan Stubbs, left, jumps onto teammate Marco Jansen for taking the winning wicket following the fifth day of the second Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at St George's Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
South Africa's Kagiso Rabada, centre, celebrates with his teammates after dismissing Sri Lanka's captain Dhananjaya de Silva, left, for 50 runs during the fifth day of the second Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at St George's Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
South Africa's Keshav Maharaj holds the ball after taking five-wicket following the fifth day of the second Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at St George's Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
South Africa's Kyle Verreynne, left, celebrates the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis, right, for 46 runs during the fifth day of the second Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at St George's Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s main international airport reopened on Wednesday to commercial flights, one month after gangs opened fire on planes. It was the second closing this year because of gang violence.
Soldiers and police, bolstered by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-backed mission to quell the violence, have boosted security in the area, and a test flight was successful, Haiti’s government said in a statement.
“The resumption of commercial flights marks a turning point for the Haitian economy,” the prime minister's office said.
However, there were no flights and no passengers Wednesday afternoon, with heavily armed police setting up checkpoints by the airport and stopping public transport. An airport parking lot normally packed with hundreds of cars had about several dozen vehicles, the majority belonging to employees.
An older Haitian man arrived at the airport late Wednesday morning, wanting to verify when he could fly out of Port-au-Prince, but there were no airline employees at any counter. He feared for his safety and declined to comment.
On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration extended a ban on U.S. flights to Haiti's capital until March 12 out of safety.
The Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince closed in mid-November after gangs opened fire on a Spirit Airlines flight that was preparing to land, striking a flight attendant who suffered minor injuries. Other commercial planes were hit that day, prompting Spirit, JetBlue and American Airlines to cancel their flights to Haiti. A day later, the FAA banned U.S. airlines from flying to the Caribbean country for 30 days.
The airport in Port-au-Prince had closed for nearly three months earlier this year after gangs launched coordinated attacks on key government infrastructure starting in late February. Gangs now control about 85% of the capital.
It wasn’t immediately clear which flights would resume on Wednesday. The FAA’s ban is in place until Thursday.
A spokesman for Spirit told The Associated Press on Wednesday that its flights to Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, where Haiti's other international airport is located, are suspended “until further notice.” A spokeswoman for American Airlines said they are monitoring the situation and will evaluate resuming flights to Port-au-Prince for late 2025. A spokesperson for JetBlue did not return a message seeking comment.
For the past month, the only international airport operating in Haiti was the one in the northern coastal town of Cap-Haitien, but traveling there by land is dangerous since gangs control the main roads leading out of Port-au-Prince and are known for opening fire on public transport.
The few who could afford to escape the surge of gang violence in the capital this past month paid thousands of dollars for private air transport to Cap-Haitien.
The violence, coupled with alleged threats and aggression from Haiti's National Police, had forced Doctors Without Borders to suspend activities for the first time in its history in the Caribbean country in late November. The aid group announced Wednesday that it had partially resumed activities in Port-au-Prince. However, transportation of patients has not restarted, and one of its hospitals remains closed.
Some 5,000 people have been reported killed in Haiti this year, including more than 100 in a recent massacre in a gang-controlled community in Port-au-Prince.
On Tuesday night, another gang killed more than 20 people in Petite-Rivière in Haiti's central Artibonite region, according to Radio Méga, who interviewed human rights attorney Rosy Auguste Ducéna.
Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
A man rides his motorcycle past the Toussaint Louverture airport on the day it reopened in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport on the day it reopened in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Pedestrians walk past the Toussaint Louverture International Airport on the day it reopened in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A Kenyan police officer, part of a U.N.-backed multinational force, crosses a street to enter the Toussaint Louverture International Airport on the day it reopened in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
