The third day for South Africa in the test with Sri Lanka was strong both on blowing and batting fronts. The day started with Philander striking off Dhananjaya de Silva who was at his overnight score of 43. Just after five balls, Lakmal was caught on the mid on being trapped by the bowler. Still there was a resistance from Chameera and Pradeep down the line. The players smashed several deliveries from Kyle Abbott and Philander before wrapping up the inning. Chameera played 50 balls before Abbott dismissed him to end the inning. Sri Lanka could resist South Africa for only 7.5 overs in the day. The team scored 205 runs in reply to South Africa's 286 from the first inning. The host were on lead by 81 runs.

South Africa started their next inning posing a strong attack on Sri Lanka bowlers. The team reached a dominant position with Stephen Cook's century. Sri Lanka could claim the first wicket of the inning only after the score reached 116 in the 33rd over. Elgar was removed after he smashed a half century by Lakmal. Following the slog, there were no wickets for almost about the next 18 overs while the score sored up to 221. In this stretch, Hasim Amla neared his half century, but the canny delivery from Nuwan Pradeep deprived him of the accolade. Being removed, he became the 10,000th lbw victim in Test History.

Following Amla, there was slog in the team with Chameera and De Silva taking a dig with their deliveries. South Africa lost four wickets for 56 runs when Cook, JP Duminy and Temba Bavuma were removed after Amla. There could have been another loss for South Africa before the day ended, but Dinesh Chandimal missed the catch of Quinton de Kock. Six overs after the Tea break, Chameera removed Cook to end his strike at 117, it was his third test century. De Silva dismissed Duminy and Bavuma although the latter's wicket could have been reviewed.

By the end of the day, South Africa stood with De Kock and Faf du Plessis with an unbroken 74 at a strike rate of 4.82. The team scored 351 for five wickets leading the match by 432 runs. By the end of the first day, South Africa was at 267 for 6 in the 90th over of the first inning. By the end of the second day, Sri Lanka was at 181 for 7 plying its 58th over. By the end of the third day, South Africa played 80 overs for their massive lead. As two days are still left, Sri Lanka must play stronger to find a better grip on the match.