The Historic Series victory that gave joy to the Sri Lankan fans after years of frustration and pain
Sri Lanka became the first Asian nation to beat Proteas at home
When the Sri Lankans landed in South Africa they had nothing to lose. The Lankans were comprehensively beaten by Australia in the two match Test series and leading up to the Australian tour they had a dismal tour against New Zealand.
The Lankan Lions were without their captain Dinesh Chandimal for the Test series against the formidable South Africans as he was left out of the squad after a disastrous tour of Australia.
After thrashing Pakistan (3-0) the South Africans were expected to defeat the Lankan lions without any trouble with the potency of their bowling attack.
The selectors decided to give the captaincy to Dimuth Karunaratne which went on to be a turning point in the series
The first test match was played in Durban where Sri Lankans had fond memories; in 2011 the Sri Lankans were able to beat the South Africans on their home soil for the first time in the Lankan cricket history.
Sri Lanka cricket has been lacking a quality left arm fast bowler ever since the retirement of Chaminda Vaas. The introduction of Vishwa Fernando turned out to be one of the crucial decisions that the team management had taken in the nick of time.
In the recently concluded Test series he went on take 12 wickets at an average of 18.91. If we take a closer look at the two Tests, the bowlers have managed to keep the Lankans in the game and eventually there were able to be a part of a historic series win.
When the other batsmen were gifting their wickets away, there was one player who played the greatest Test innings in the history of Test cricket.
In Durban the Sri Lankans were down and out losing nine wickets for 226 runs and they required another 78 runs for victory, the South Africans would have thought that winning this game would be easy, but Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando had nothing else on their minds but they had the determination to win the game for their nation, and ultimately the duo was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
When the team’s arrived in Port Elizabeth the South Africans were desperate to level the series but the islanders held their nerve to repeat the heroics that they did in Durban.
For South Africa it was a bitter pill to swallow as they suffered a whitewash on their own back yard and it was the first time that a team in Asia had won in South Africa.
For Sri Lanka it was a dream that our fans never thought that it would happen in reality. The youngsters were able to contribute significantly throughout the series. Players such as Lasith Ebuldeniya and Oshada Fernando also played an important role in the historic series win.
This Series will be remembered as one of the greatest Series wins in Test Cricket. For the Sri Lankan fans this Historic Series win will help them to regain some of the lost hope about the future of Sri Lanka cricket.