COLOMBO: When Sri Lanka completed a 2-0 Test sweep of South Africa on 23 July to record their first series win over the Proteas since 2006, they became the first team in Test cricket history to win a match using only spinners.
Coincidentally, the trio of slow bowlers Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya also sent South Africa spinning to their first Test whitewash since they went down in the island nation 2-0 in a two-match series almost 12 years ago.
Veteran Rangana Herath’s 6/98 helped Sri Lanka overcome dogged South African resistance to win by 199 runs in the second and final Test in Colombo with a day to spare. All 20 wickets to fall in South Africa’s two innings went to the Sri Lankan spinners. Sri Lanka won the first Test in Galle by 278 runs.
Needing 351 runs at the start of the fourth day after Sri Lanka had set them 490 to win, South Africa were bowled out for 290 early in the second session on the fourth day.
South Africa had managed just 124 runs in their first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 338 and the hosts had declared their second innings on 275/5.
Rangana Herath, who now sits ninth on the all-time Test wicket-takers list, is expected to retire from international cricket after Sri Lanka hosts England for three Tests in November.
Theunis de Bruyn (101) posted a maiden Test century and was involved in the partnership with Temba Bavuma (63) that delayed the inevitable after South Africa was set an improbable target of 490 to level the series. The Proteas were eventually dismissed for 290.
In South Africa’s first innings, it was the spinners Rangana (1/32), Dilruwan (4/40) and Akila (5/52) who bowled all 34.5 overs to send the visitors crashing to 124. In the end, it was the same spin trio who did the damage in South Africa’s second innings too – Rangana returned the figures of 6 for 98, Dilruwan had 2 for 90 and Akila finished with 2 for 67.
In fact, the Sri Lankan spinners dominated play so much that the lone fast bowler and Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal bowled just two overs in the second innings, and the entire match, giving Sri Lanka another record – it was the lowest number of overs bowled by fast bowlers for a winning side in Test cricket history!
“When we play at home we know that spin will play a part and we have some of the best spinners in the world,” Suranga Lakmal told journalists.
“We played like a team and very pleased with everyone’s contributions. We knew that they will struggle when the ball turns.”
His counterpart, South African skipper Francois Du Plessis said:”Whenever a team tours the subcontinent – whether it’s Australia or England or us – there’s always a question mark on how you play spin.
“It’s a world issue that we’re trying to get better at. I don’t think we play spin badly, but if you compare yourself to the subcontinent batters, then they’re obviously a step above us in that regard.”
The teams begin a five-match ODI series on 29 July in Dambulla, which is also the venue for the second ODI on August 1. The third and fourth games will be held on Pallekele on August 5 and 8 respectively while the final ODI will be played at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo on August 12.
Those games will be followed by one T20 international.
Sri Lanka’s limited-overs skipper Angelo Mathews is back to lead the team in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, with the selectors naming a 15-member squad on Tuesday (July 24). Uncapped left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya is the lone newcomer in the squad.
Mathews, who was re-appointed as Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20I skipper in January this year, led the team in only one game since his reinstatement as a hamstring injury had cut short his captaincy assignment during the tri-series in Bangladesh at the start of the year.
