Sri Lanka level series with famous win

Final Score- South Africa: 168 - 241 / 10 in 87.3 overs RR: 2.75, Sri Lanka: 338 - 279 in 78.2 overs RR: 3.56

Sri Lanka level series with famous win

In a stunning turnaround, Sri Lanka hammered a feeble South Africa in the second Test at Durban by 208 runs to level the three match series with one day to spare. This was Sri Lanka’s first win in South Africa and only their ninth outside the subcontinent. Having been comprehensively beaten in series opener, the visitors rallied around centuries by Thilan Samarweera and Kumar Sangakkara to earn one of their most famous overseas Test wins.

While the Sri Lankan batsmen deserve lot of credit for showing character in both the innings, one player who made it possible was Rangana Herath. His match figures of 9 for 128 in mildly helpful conditions made his achievement a special one.

For South Africa, it was their listless batting that has to be blamed. It was proved beyond doubt that their first innings fiasco was not an aberration because the second attempt was equally woeful. Barring Hashim Amla’s fluent fifty and a resilient 99-run stand between AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn for the seventh wicket, it was a meek surrender. Along the way, Jacques Kallis got his first pair in Tests.

The fact that they were 88 for 1 at Lunch chasing a daunting a huge of 450 makes the collapse hard to explain. They lost five of their main batters for just 44 before de Villiers and Steyn lend some respectability to their score.

When Herath removed de Lange in what was last over of the day, the celebrations began in the Sri Lankan camp.

Summary: Day One

After the below-200 scores at Centurion which had cast doubts about their ability to survive on the bouncy tracks of South Africa, Sri Lankan batsmen put in a much improved batting show on the opening day with Thilan Samaraweera leading the way with a gritty 86. Despite debutant pacer Merchant de Lange’s four wickets, Sri Lanka ended with 289 for seven.

Tillakaratne Dilshan chose to bat on a track known to assist pacers even as South Africa were forced to tweak with their pace battery, in-form Vernon Philander missing out due to an injury and his place taken by young Merchant de Lange. And, the rookie soon had a chance to show his skill set. Only in the ninth over, the tall bowler earned his first wicket in Tests by removing Tharanga Paranavitana and celebrated it with the prized scalp of Kumara Sangakkara.

Regardless of the two early blows, Dilshan played his strokes but slapped a full-toss from Imran Tahir straight down square leg’s throat to be dismissed three short of a fifty. Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews wasted starts but Samarweera dropped anchor to take Sri Lanka past 200 in company of debutant keeper Dinesh Chandimal. While the senior pro was sedate, his younger partner played his shots in a 111-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Towards the close, South Africa picked up wickets of Chandimal and Thisara Parera to create an opening for themselves after the visitors had controlled proceedings for most part of the day.

Day Two:

If the first day had moments for Sri Lanka, the second one had their name written all over it. To begin with, Samarweera reached his century- only the second man from his country to do so in South Africa. It was followed by a splendid bowling display from Chanaka Welegedara and Rangana Herath, who shared nine wickets between themselves to put South Africa on the mat. In reply to the visitors’ 338, the Proteas were bundled out for 168 thus conceding a massive 170-run lead.

Samarweera continued to play the sheet anchor role and patiently scored the fourteen runs needed for his century. Rangana Herath, at the other end, used the long handle to good effect and scored a handy 30 to take Sri Lanka well past 300. But, de Lange brought a swift end to the innings by removing the last three wickets in only eight deliveries, Samaraweera the last one to fall for 102 and Sri Lanka all-out for 228. The first-timer de Lange finished with figures of seven for 81.

After Lunch, South Africa started on a disastrous note, Jacques Rudolph, Graeme Smith and Jacque Kallis all dismissed with score yet to cross 30. It took some sublime stroke play from Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers to rescue South Africa. The two stylish batsmen added 76 runs for the fourth wicket to take the score into three figures but were dismissed immediately after Tea.

The two last recognized batsmen in the Proteas line-up Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher played nothing shots against the spin of Rangana Herath. At 119 for 8, South Africa faced the embarrassment of facing the follow-on, but thanks to an entertaining 29 by Dale Steyn, they were able to reach 168 and thus avoided the ignominy. Even though, Dilshan fell in fading light to give the hosts something to cheer about but the Sri Lankan lead was already worth 177.

Day Three:

Sri Lanka tightened their grip on the match with a dogged batting effort on the third day to end with an overall lead of 426 runs and three wickets still in the bank. Kumar Sangakkara stole the limelight with a classy century that more or less pushed South Africa out of contention. Samarweera and Chandimal also chipped in with useful knocks as Sri Lanka put on 256 and stage was set for a flourish on the penultimate day.

After overnight rain delayed the start of action by about an hour, the South African pacers found some assistance under overcast skies. Morkel got Sangakkara to edge one in first over of the day but Smith, at first slip failed to pouch it. Having got a reprieve, Sangakkara cashed in on all the scoring opportunity offered by the Proteas.

Meanwhile, Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene fell in quick succession to give South Africa an opportunity of clawing their way back into the game. But, Sangakkara found excellent support, first from Samarweera and then Chandimal as they took the lead past 400. Sangakkara scored a sublime 108, his first ton in South Africa and probably one of the most important knocks of his glittering career.