SA MUST STIFLE ISLAND STYLE

South Africa need to find the balance between making runs and taking wickets

Sri Lanka head to Port Elizabeth battered, bruised but beaming from ear to ear. 1-0 up in the series against South Africa, Dimuth Karunaratne,

pictured, and his men know that they are five days away from history.

Whether they had designs on that before the first Test in Durban, we can never know, but they aree surely looking at this series with a very different perspective now.

“I said in the beginning we needed to compete every session and every hour,” the Sri Lanka skipper explained on Saturday, after his side’s victory at Kingsmead.

The wasted no time competing, with three early wickets on the first morning. They immediately showed that, light as they may on experience, they still had expertise. Vishwa Fernando allowed them to ask different questions of the South Africans, and Quinton de Kock admitted the Proteas had been caught off guard.

Sri Lanka stayed in the match long enough to give themselves a chance, and that left the door open just enough for Kusal Perera to kick it down. But, despite the win, Karunaratne admitted that there needed to be more from the collective.

“We’re a young side, and don’t have much experience. Only a few of us have travelled and played here before,” he pointed out.

They have done so now, and life experience can sometimes seem like a relative thing when one has gone through a single experience as enriching as Sri Lanka’s young team just did. Everything suggested that they had no chance of winning. And then they did.

They know, though, that they can’t depend on one, crazy performance again. Test cricket doesn’t work like that.

A team’s shortcomings are exposed over time. So, if Sri Lanka are to have a say in Port Elizabeth, their captain wants more from them, especially the batsmen.

A Test victory feels great for a few days, but a series win is forever. It is seen as a far bigger statement than a mere aberration.

South Africa will have issues of their own, such as the hamstring injury to Vernon Philander, and then the balance of their team, whether he is fit or not.

The use of five specialist bowlers appeared to be an indulgence, but Philander’s unique skills were then missed on the final day.

So, which way do South Africa go? They need runs to create pressure, but they also need enough firepower to bowl the opposition out twice.

In Durban, they went with more bowlers, and admitted they were short of runs. But, most of the world will most fondly remember that they took 19 wickets, instead of 20.

That was the key stat, which is why they may look to address that first. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, know they must brace for an almighty challenge from the hosts.

Nothing else will do.