Captain Karunaratne exorcises Wanderers demons

Karunaratne’s fighting second innings century made sure Sri Lanka avoided another innings defeat (ESPN)

Ruan van der Merwe at Wanderers

Usually, the Sri Lankans go to Wanderers as lambs to slaughter. The hard bouncy surface and the high altitude have seen them folding away time and again. Their record at this venue is pathetic that before this Test match, just one Sri Lankan had scored a half-century. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne up up a splendid display yesterday to send a strong message to his team that if you are committed and discipline nothing is impossible.

His hundred didn’t matter much as Sri Lanka lost by ten wickets with two and a session to spare, a heavy loss according to the scorebooks. But given the context – where several of your front line batters are out with injuries and your bowling is so inexperienced – the  Proteas will appreciate the fight shown.

This Sri Lankans could have tested the Proteas had some of their batsmen shown resolve. Apart from Karunaratne, just three other batters got into double figures and when there are so little contributions  from others, you aren’t  going to test the opposition.

Karunaratne was 91 overnight and reached his tenth Test hundred with back to back boundaries with a cut shot off Anrich Nortje helping  him to reach the milestone. It was his tenth Test hundred.

The fifth wicket partnership between Karunaratne and  Niroshan Dickwella was worth 69 runs but the Sri Lankans needed much more than that having fared so poorly in the first innings. The stand was broken soon after Karunaratne completed his hundred when he top edged a pull shot off Nortje and was caught at square leg.

Dickwella departed in the next over and the wheels started coming off as Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 35 runs. It was a dramatic collapse and after their stubborn resistance on the second day, they were expected to be lot more competitive on day three.

Batting at Wanderers is difficult is a myth. After all, the 434 game was played here. The 434 game is when South Africa chased that score against the Aussies and won with a ball to spare.

The secret to success at Wanderers is playing time. Leaving plenty of balls and hanging in there. More than solid defense patience is vital if you want to succeed here. Once you get the bowlers beyond their third spell, run making become lot easier.  Well, there are lots more loose balls on offer than earlier on in the innings.

But the Sri Lankans approach is inexplicable. There is Minod Bhanuka, on debut trying to drive the last ball before lunch as if Sri Lanka wanted a boundary off the last ball for a win and there is Kusal Mendis whose ever so casual approach earned him a pair. Succeeding at Wanderers is an art – an art Sri Lankans have failed to master time and again.

The Proteas were set a target of 65 and the openers knocked  off those runs.

Dean Elgar was  named both Man of the Match and Player of the Series.

The Proteas would be happy that they got a win under their belt although they have got no chance of making it to the World Test Championship final. Tougher challenges are ahead when they travel to Pakistan in two weeks time.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 157

& 211 (Karunaratne 103, Ngidi 4/44, Sipamla 3/40)

South Africa 302

& 67/0

Result –

South Africa won by 10 wickets