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Dimuth Karunaratne (Photo by Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)
If there was a floor where Sri Lanka I really would have needed Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Suranga Lakmal and Dushmantha Chameera in a rhythm quartet, they are the Wanderers.
It is not a field in which Sri Lanka has particularly enjoyed playing test cricket.
Their last visit just under four years ago saw them crushed by one inning and 118 races in which Kumara, who will miss Sunday’s second round through injury, posted a costly 4/107, but proved his worth with his pace.
Lakmal, facing a late fitness test, didn’t take any windows, but was miserable in conditions that weren’t too hitter-friendly.
South Africa’s 426 was more than enough to beat the weary Sri Lankans, who had lost the first two events in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town convincingly.
Hashim Amla (134) and JP Duminy (155), provided the only amounts of substance on a tricky surface that Sri Lankan bowlers finally blew up on the second day.
Quinton de Kock was the other scorer with 34 in an inning of starts and starts.
Sri Lanka’s batting survivors from that particular game were captain Dimuth Karunaratne, who scored a high of 50 in the second inning.
Kusal Mendis, who still threatens to fulfill his enormous potential, made a decent first inning 41.
Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva, the two mid-range buccaneers who almost made the visitors dream of a third successive test victory in South Africa with their charming but dominant partnership, did little in that test.
That test was one of Wayne Parnell’s last games for the Proteas in white and the teams have gone through personnel changes ever since.
Angelo Mathews, who was the captain of Sri Lanka in that series, still has his injury battles ongoing, while Amla, Duminy and Vernon Philander have moved into the sanctuary of the press box.
One Duanne Olivier also made his Test debut in that particular game, but Kagiso Rabada, who will not play in Sunday’s Test, would have been the only returning rider from that group had he been chosen.
The game has progressed and so have the teams as they will have to make the necessary adjustments for Sunday.
Chameera’s rhythm has been a lot to deal with; especially when Sri Lanka is traveling but keeping your body in one piece will be the most important thing.
Sri Lanka has yet to host an England team that is improving as a traveling unit and they will need their fast pitchers to be fully fit for that engagement.
Will it be the case for Sri Lanka playing within themselves on a field where in 2002, they were also roundly beaten by one inning and 64 runs with the aim of managing England at home?
After the first inning of their game shown at SuperSport Park, Sri Lanka has shown that it has the stomach for a fight and will not back down in the face of adversity despite its walking injuries.
It remains to be seen if they can do it again in a field where their totals are 192, 130, 131 and 177 and they haven’t been able to force the hosts to hit again either.
