At least Dimuth Karunaratne was able to fetch his century before he left behind the wretchedness of the past 11 days. In the third over of the morning, he cover drove and cut Anrich Nortje for consecutive boundaries to get there after more than three hours at the crease in which he scored runs from 40 of the 123 balls he faced. Well played, skipper. Richly deserved.
But Sri Lanka were still savouring Karunaratne’s success when, 11 minutes and 15 balls later, he pulled too late at a rising delivery from Nortje that speared towards his ribs. The resultant top edge blooped high and hung in the sky over midwicket forever before Wiaan Mulder, the sun in his eyes whiting out much of what he might have seen, took the catch. Karunaratne scored his 103, his 10th Test century, on one of the more seaming, swinging, bouncing pitches he would have seen since had made his first ton at Hagley Oval in Christchurch in December 2014. His others have all come at home, in Dubai, and in Harare.
The stoke that undid him wasn’t the best to play in the circumstances. But it was far from the worst seen at the Wanderers on the third day – and the last day, as it turned out – of the second Test on Tuesday. South Africa took the six wickets that were standing at the start of play for 35 runs in 17.5 overs.
Whatever it was Lutho Sipamla had worked on when he came out after stumps on Monday to bowl on one of the practice pitches, accompanied by bowling coach Charl Langeveldt and his trusty catcher’s mitt, and delaying for 10 minutes the dozen groundstaff who stood holding patiently the last tarpaulin they needed to place to complete the covering of the pitch table, it seems to have done the trick. Sipamla went wicketless for 34 from eight overs on Monday. He bowled 11 deliveries on Tuesday, and took three wickets for the addition to his tally of six runs. Sipamla conceded 66 runs for no reward in his first 12 overs as a Test bowler; now he has 10 at 16.70. Clearly, he learns quickly.
South Africa wrapped up their victory, by 10 wickets, in the ninth over after lunch. With no pressure on them, Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar gathered runs as they were picking up seashells on Unawatuna beach in Galle.
The Sri Lankans will go home wondering which gods they had angered and how seriously to merit losing four players to injury while enduring the insult of an innings defeat at Centurion, which preponed their loss at the Wanderers. And what they can do to appease these cruel deities in time to give a better account of themselves in their series against England, which starts on January 14. South African conditions won’t have done much to prepare them for that engagement, but at least they will know that their surviving fast bowlers – the Fernandos, Vishwa and Asitha, in particular – are up for a fight regardless. But Sri Lanka will have to bat exponentially better to be competitive. Specifically, they will have to stop playing the kind of ill-disciplined shots we saw too many of on Tuesday, which were suited for nothing except lobbing the ball into the air.
South Africa won a Test series for the first time since they beat Pakistan 3-0 at home in December 2018 and January 2019 – five rubbers ago. They also avenged their loss to Sri Lanka in February 2019, when the islanders became the only Asian side to win a series in South Africa. But, as emphatic as that makes their success appear, they also face questions, and also mainly about their batting – which was too frequently derailed by a loss of patience after much hard work had been done. Indeed, they left five half-centuries unconverted.
More happily, Wiaan Mulder has announced himself as a major talent and Sipamla has made a solid start to his career. Faf du Plessis’ 199 at Centurion and Elgar’s 127 at the Wanderers were welcome indicators of continued excellence in the old guard. And it can’t hurt that South Africa won a series without Kagiso Rabada bowling a single delivery.
Sri Lanka’s first international cricket and South Africa’s first Test series in the pandemic went off smoothly, which was not a given considering England’s abandoned tour last month. You won’t read this often, but perhaps the real winners were CSA. Now for its next trick – successfully staging tours by Australia and Pakistan between February and April. Before then, South Africa will be in Pakistan later this month and in February.
Cricket’s brave new world is upon it. Soon, it will not be new. But, as long as Covid-19 is with us, it will remain brave.
© Cricbuzz
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