PORT ELIZABETH: Vernon Philander took a wicket with the first ball of the day, and two wickets in Wednesday's first over, as South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 205 and increased its lead to 120 before rain intervened on Day 3 of the first test.

Philander ended with 5-45, his 11th five-wicket haul in 38 tests, to put South Africa on top in the series opener at St. George's Park. Lightning and rain stopped play with the Proteas 39-0 in their second innings.

Philander had Dhananjaya de Silva caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off the first ball of the morning to remove the tourists' top scorer on 43. Sri Lanka added just 24 runs to its overnight total of 181-7.

Fellow seamer Kyle Abbott took 3-63 for South Africa.

South Africa vs Sri Lanka 1st test scoreboard

PORT ELIZABETH: Scoreboard Wednesday after Sri Lanka was bowled out for 205 on Day 3 in its first innings in the first cricket test against South Africa at St. George's Park:

South Africa 1st Innings: 286

Sri Lanka 1st Innings

(Overnight: 181-7)

Dimuth Karunaratne b Abbott 5

Kaushal Silva lbw b Philander 16

Kusal Perera c De Kock b Philander 7

Kusal Mendis c De Kock b Abbott 0

Angelo Mathews c Elgar b Rabada 39

Dinesh Chandimal lbw b Philander 28

Dhananjaya de Silva c De Kock b Philander 43

Rangana Herath lbw b Maharaj 24

Dushmantha Chameera c Amla b Abbott 19

Suranga Lakmal c Abbott b Philander 4

Nuwan Pradeep not out 8

Extras (4lb, 5w, 3nb) 12

TOTAL: (all out) 205

Overs: 64.5

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-19, 3-22, 4-61, 5-94, 6-121, 7-157, 8-181, 9-185, 10-205.

Bowling: Vernon Philander 20-7-45-5 (2nb), Kyle Abbott 21.5-4-63-3, Kagiso Rabada 13-3-63-1 (1nb, 1w), Keshav Maharaj 10-3-30-1.

South Africa 2nd Innings

Stephen Cook not out 12

Dean Elgar not out 26

Extras: (1nb) 1

TOTAL: (for 0 wickets) 39

Overs: 11.

Still to bat: Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Kyle Abbott, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada.

Bowling: Suranga Lakmal 5-0-19-0, Nuwan Pradeep 4-0-13-0 (1nb), Angelo Mathews 2-0-7-0.

Toss: South Africa.

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Pakistan, and Bruce Oxenford, Australia.

TV umpire: Rod Tucker, Australia. Match referee: David Boon, Australia.

Reserve umpire Shaun George stood in for Rod Tucker as TV umpire on Day 2.