adminCOLOMBO. — A gritty Proteas tail has fought off Sri Lanka’s spinners to snatch a nerve-jangling draw in the second Test cricket and seal a historic 1-0 series win yesterday.
The series victory propelled the Proteas to the top of world Test ranking ahead of Australia and also ended their 21-year-old jinx on the island.
It was their first series win in Sri Lanka since 1993 when they first toured the country and defeated the hosts 1-0.
The Proteas had won the opening Test in Galle by 153 runs.
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 Proteas 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, the Proteas 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. — AFP
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