Proteas in a strange situation
They have to win the next Test match if they are to keep their perfect home record
SOUTH Africa find themselves in the unusual position of having to save a Test series at home, after going 1-0 down to Sri Lanka in Durban on Saturday.
The one-wicket defeat, engineered by one of the great, fourth-innings of all-time from Kusal Perera, would have stung the Proteas.
They never seemed to be in any danger, or even appear to feel under threat, until Perera was closing in on the incredible victory.
It will forever remain a feat of sheer brilliance and bravado, given the manner he took the fight to South Africa, the blows he took upon himself all match, and the defiant manner his tail hung on for him on the other end.
It will be a story told again and again, but it might not be so fondly remembered by their hosts. Understandably so.
“I’m trying to think what we as a team could have done better, but an innings like that is one that will be spoken about for years to come. He took the game on and he takes a lot of risks. Some days it pays off and some days it doesn’t,” Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis saluted.
South Africa had problems of their own making, which might have appeared minor for three days, but are now looked at under a fresh microscope, given the overall result.
Du Plessis reflected that they could have done with more runs. When Dale Steyn suggested, on day two, that South Africa needed 500 to be safe, there was laughter amongst the media.
That seemed ludicrous. An excess, if you will, especially for a team with five world-class bowlers.
But, then, Sri Lanka’s Saturday happened, and 500 didn’t seem so crazy, after all.
“I’m disappointed with the runs that we scored in both innings and I think we were under par with both innings,” du Plessis admitted.
“We’ve played on more difficult surfaces for the last two years and scored more runs, so I thought there was an opportunity there. That’s more a controllable in the game where we could have been better.”
He said he felt that he could have gone onto 130-140 himself, and really taken the game away. He also looked at his tail, and how they capitulated. Five wickets were lost for eight runs.
That was crazy – and costly in the final analysis.
The loss of Vernon Philander for the whole of the final day was also a problem, given his preference for pitched up, straight bowling.
If the South Africans were guilty of one thing in their hour of need, it was being too short with the ball.
Philander doesn’t lean towards that length, because his pace and precision doesn’t allow for such thinking.
He was missed. And he might be missed in Port Elizabeth, for a Test that starts on Thursday.
South Africa have no choice but to win, if they want to preserve a proud record of not losing a series to a sub-continent team.
No-one would have put money on Sri Lanka being the first team to do that. Then again, no one would have put money on Perera scoring 153 not out, and winning the Test at Kingsmead.
Cricket is a funny game, after all.
The only way that South Africa might regain their humour, though, is by winning – and winning well – in Port Elizabeth.
The alternative is simply too grim to contemplate.
The second Test starts at St George’s Park on Thursday.