Can Sri Lanka complete an unlikely Test series win on South African shores? Our cricket writer previews:
Sri Lanka shocked the Proteas as Ottis Gibson’s charges appeared to fall victim to the Kingsmead curse as the Asians – thanks to a brilliant innings by Kusal Perera – stormed to a one-wicket victory.
Attention will next turn to Port Elizabeth where the sides will renew hostilities at St. George’s Park from Thursday. Can the South Africans level the series or will the Sri Lankans cause one of the biggest series upsets in recent memory?
South Africa vs Sri Lanka | 21 – 25 February | St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
To Win Match
South Africa 2/11
Draw 15/2
Sri Lanka 8/1
South Africa
It’ll be important for the South Africans to bounce back confidently following what was a shock defeat at the hands of the tourists. Faf du Plessis and his charges simply didn’t dominate enough of the sessions throughout the Test. The hosts will certainly look to apply more sustained pressure on the Sri Lankans who have wilted as soon as soon as they’ve come under the cosh in recent series.
Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla all failed up front, exposing the middle order earlier than would have been liked across both innings. Indeed, the defeat suffered in Durban would certainly have been much worse had Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock not come to the rescue with the South Africans in trouble.
De Kock continues to grow into an excellent Test batsman. As you’d expect, there have been calls for him to move up the order. Perhaps that number three slot that will be vacated by Amla in the near future could force a reshuffle of the order, allowing de Kock to bat with more established batsman as opposed to the all-rounders and tail.
There were a couple of questions raised about Faf’s captaincy in the final innings of the game. Perhaps he allowed Perera to farm the strike too easily? Maybe he took the new ball at the wrong time? He certainly remains the best possible captain for the side, and I don’t suspect a few dissenting voices from fans and pundits will fluster him at all.
Sri Lanka
Wow, what a performance from the visitors! They were certainly under pressure at several points throughout the game, but you just felt they were never really quite out of it. Well, until they lost the ninth wicket in their second innings.
While there will be plenty of celebrating, Sri Lanka will know that they got lucky. Perera’s innings only papers over the cracks that have plagued Sri Lankan cricket since the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and to a lesser extent Tillakaratne Dilshan.
They’re screaming out for top order batsmen who can occupy the crease for long periods. Kusal Mendis has shown that he has the aptitude to do just that, but is far too inconsistent as was evidenced in the first Test with scores of 12 and 0.
The Sri Lankan batsmen will be happy they don’t head to the Highveld next, with conditions in Port Elizabeth expected to be similar to those in Durban. Whether or not the likes of Fernando, Lasith Embuldeniya and Kasun Rajitha will be able to take wickets as consistently as they did in Durban remains to be seen too.
Verdict: South Africa 2/11
The Proteas will know that nothing short of a win will suffice in Port Elizabeth. Expect them to come out firing as they look to outclass the Sri Lankans who are exceedingly poor travellers.
