South Africa draw match, win series against Sri Lanka

Colombo: A gritty South African tail fought off Sri Lanka’s spinners to snatch a nerve-jangling draw in the second Test and seal a historic 1-0 series win. Chasing a target of 369, the visitors were reeling at 148-8 but tailenders Vernon Philander (27 not out) and Imran Tahir (four not out) hung on in the final nine overs to finish on 159-8. For Sri Lanka, it was only their second home series defeat since 2006.

The South Africans were booed by the small but noisy crowd at the SSC ground after Tahir indulged in some time wasting tactics towards end of play. Starting the day at 38-1, South Africa added just 121 runs off 94 overs, opting for defensive batting rather than press for a win.To their credit, the Sri Lankan spinners gave it their all but constant rain breaks and sloppy fielding put paid to their efforts.

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath led the pack with 5 wickets from 45 overs while giving away just 40 runs. The stocky 36-year-old was well supported by off-spinner Dilruwan Perera who grabbed 3-60. South Africa owed much to their new Test skipper Hashim Amla who occupied the crease for close to three hours despite a troublesome hamstring, making 25 off 159 balls in a remarkable show of resistance. Amla, playing his first series since succeeding Graeme Smith as Test captain, at one stage faced 57 successive dot balls, frustrating the Sri Lankan bowlers no end. He was finally dismissed by Perera who had him caught by Mahela Jayawardene in the fourth over of the final session.