SA vs SL: Five most memorable Test matches between Sri Lanka and South Africa
Sri Lanka are set to tour South Africa for a 2-match Test series which will be a part of the World Test Championship. The two teams will face off in the Boxing Day Test in Centurion and the New Year Test in Johannesburg. The battle between the two sides has usually seen the domination by the home team. However, things seemed to have changed in the past decade as Sri Lanka won a Test series recently in South Africa and vice-versa a couple of years ago. Here are 5 Best Test matches between Sri Lanka and South Africa:
5) Kingsmead in Durban, 2011:
Sri Lanka toured South Africa for the first time after nine years in 2011-12 for a 3-match Test series. The series began with an innings defeat for the visitors in Centurion before the two teams met at the Kingsmead in Durban for the 2nd Test match. Sri Lanka, who batted first, posted 338 thanks to Thilan Samaraweera’s 102-run knock.
Chanaka Welegedara (5) and Rangana Herath (4) bagged nine wickets between themselves to bowl the hosts to just 168. Kumar Sangakkara turned up for the Lankans in the second essay with a 108-run knock as they extended their lead to 449 runs. Herath spun a web around the home team with a 5-wicket haul as Sri Lanka clinched their maiden Test win on South African soil with a margin of 208 runs.
#OnThisDay 2011
•Sri Lanka’s first Test win in South Africa
•TM Dilshan his first Test win as captain
•Dinesh Chandimal Made his Test Debut
•@HerathRSL 5 wicket haul in 2nd inngs pic.twitter.com/AePwPt8LQs— ⌫ ĸαѕυɴ ɴιrαɴjαɴ (@niranjan_69) December 30, 2017
4) P Sara Oval in Colombo, 2006:
South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2006 began with a world-record partnership of 624 runs between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The second Test was played at the P Sara Oval where the Proteas got a 40-run lead in the first innings. The home team had a target of 352 in front of them despite Muralitharan’s 12-wicket match haul.
Skipper Jayawardene’s 123-run knock put Sri Lanka on the top before the final day’s play. A little while after lunch, the hosts lost three wickets for nine runs when they were 12 runs away from a win. But Maharoof and Malinga ensured Sri Lanka completed a series victory by scoring a run each.
3) Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, 2014:
First Test Series Win for @OfficialCSA in 21 Years in Sri Lanka#OnThisDay in 2014 South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 1-0 in 2 Test Match Series. pic.twitter.com/RTjUsJDK5E
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) July 28, 2019
South Africa came into the 2014 Test series in Sri Lanka with hopes of securing their maiden Test series win after 21 years on the Lankan soil. The Proteas were successful in winning the first Test but the home team bounced back in the 2nd game.
Sri Lanka got a 139-run in the first-innings and put the visitors to play three and half sessions with a target of 369. South Africa succumbed in the final sessions but managed to hold on to a thrilling draw after losing eight wickets. Imran Tahir tried his best to waste valuable time towards the end and helped his team in the due course to seal a series win.
2) Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy, 2000:
After losing the first Test by an innings margin, South Africa needed a big performance in Kandy which hosted the 2nd game. Both the visiting team’s openers got out for a duck but an unbeaten 118 from Lance Klusener got them to 253/10. Marvan Atapattu’s 120 helped Sri Lanka to earn a 55-run lead despite a collapse. South Africa weren’t able to put on a strong performance in the 2nd innings as they got bowled out for 231 only.
Defending a 177-run target, South Africa had the home side four wickets down for 21 runs. But Arjuna Ranatunga (88) and Russell Arnold (40) rescued the team with a 109-run partnership. Lankans were only 16 runs away from a win with four wickets in hand but Ranatunga’s dismissal triggered a collapse. Sri Lanka lost their last four wickets for eight runs and lost the match by a mere 7-run margin.
1) Kingsmead in Durban, 2019:
#OnThisDay 2019, Kusal Perera’s 153* miracle of Durban, one of the greatest of all time and won the ESPNcricinfo award for the best Test batting performance of 2019.#LKA #SriLanka @afidelf @ESPNcricinfo @RusselArnold69 @ICC https://t.co/u8i44ahier pic.twitter.com/e5uKl0IKht
— Sri Lanka Tweet ?? (@SriLankaTweet) February 16, 2020
Sri Lanka toured South Africa for a 2-match Test series in 2019 without much of expectations. However, they did a decent job to keep the hosts under 300 in both innings and were put into a chase of the 304-run target. Kusal Perera stood tall in the chase after Sri Lanka lost five wickets for just 110 runs.
A 96-run stand for the 6th wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (48) brought back the hopes of the Lankans but they lost four wickets in the space of 20 runs. Kusal kept finding the boundaries with the No.11 batsman Vishwa Fernando. The duo saw the home side through to a sensational 1-wicket win with their record 78-run stand for the final wicket.
