Sri Lanka has unearthed a new ground, which was unseen for any other Asian cricket team in the history of Test cricket. Visiting Sri Lanka emerged victorious in the two-match Test series against South Africa and become the first Asian team to achieve this rarity. They won the second Test by eight wickets and complete a 2-0 whitewash of South Africa.
South Africa opted to bat after winning the toss and got bundled out for 222 in the first innings, where Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock’s timely fifties made them reach there. However, Sri Lanka was no better with the bat and conceded a 68-run lead to the hosts.
Also Read: Kusal Perera cleared off any danger, will bat if needed
Lankan lions made some quick amendments and reduced South Africa to 128 in the second innings, where they collapsed from 90/3 to 128-all out. The visitors made no more mistakes and raced to the target with the loss of two wickets. Kusal Mendis scored an unbeaten 84 while Oshada Fernando remained not out on 75.
They cricket fraternity took no time in applauding Sri Lanka for this insane effort to prove every cricket expert wrong. Everyone wrote them off before the series but this result will do a world of good to the confidence of their team ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
See some stats from this match;
- Test series victories in South Africa by visiting sides Since readmission in 1991-
5 by Australia (1997,2002,2006,2009,2014)
2 by England (2004-05, 2015-16)
1 by Sri Lanka (2019)
- Kusal Mendis averages 49.61* in the fourth innings – the highest for him in any innings of a Test.
1st innings: 34.29
2nd innings: 23.38
3rd innings: 42.19
Overall: 36.18*
- A first-ever golden duck for Amla in a career spanning 124 Tests
Also Read: Sri Lanka sent Chandimal home to play FC cricket
- 18 wicketless overs for Styen – the most by him in a home Test
- Highest targets chased down by SL:
388 v Zim, Colombo RPS, 2017
352 v SA, Colombo PSS, 2006
326 v Zim, Colombo SSC, 1998
304 v SA, Durban, 2019
220 v Pak, Rawalpindi, 2000
197 v SA, Port Elizabeth, 2019 *Highest partnerships for SL in 4th innings:
216 R Dias – D Mendis 4th wkt v Ind Kandy 1985
189*A de Silva – A Ranatunga 6th wkt v Zim Colombo SSC 1998
163*O Fernando – K Mendis 3rd wkt v SA Port Elizabeth 2019 *
See Twitter reaction after this historic win by Sri Lanka;
Really happy for the boys, fantastic team effort. This series win among the Top achievements of Sri Lanka Cricket. Well done @iamdimuth & team, Coaching staff.
— Rangana Herath (@HerathRSL) February 23, 2019
Soooo happy for the guys @OfficialSLC #SAvSL an achivemnt to cherish for a life time. Resilience when there was no hope… Truly incredible !!! Well done !!! Never lose hope !!
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) February 23, 2019
Congratulations !!! Great team work to achieve something special. proud of the boys.. Well done @IamDimuth and the team. 👍👊👊👊
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) February 23, 2019
Congratulations again @OfficialSLC for making history for Sri Lanka and Asia with this win. @IamDimuth @CHathurusinghe @KusalMendis1 @NiroshanDikka
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) February 23, 2019
Wow, Sri Lanka! Hats off! Going where no Asian team has gone before, where better Sri Lankan teams haven't. This is big! Very big.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 23, 2019
