Interim skipper Karunaratne's 'keep smiling, keep enjoying' message works wonders as visitors become first Asian team to win Test series in South Africa
Sri Lanka players celebrate their 2-0 series win over South Africa at Port Elizabeth on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne hailed his happy, united team after they completed an historic 2-0 series triumph against South Africa at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis propelled Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win on Day Three of the second Test, playing exactly the sort of cricket that Karunaratne wanted. "We told them, 'play your normal game, if you can hit over the fielder go for it'," said Karunaratne after Sri Lanka became the first team from Asia to win a Test series in South Africa.
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Fernando, Mendis shine
Fernando (75 not out) and Mendis (84 not out) attacked the South African bowlers from the start of play on Saturday, taking Sri Lanka from an overnight 60-2 to the victory target of 197 in just over two hours of uninhibited stroke play. Appointed only as an interim captain, Karunaratne said he had a simple message for his players when he took over at a time of apparent turmoil in Sri Lankan cricket. "When I started, I said to my boys, 'whatever happens you have to keep smiling, keep enjoying. If you're not enjoying you don't get to a hundred percent'."
Remarkably, the Lankans consistently played positive cricket despite having been away from home for the better part of three months. They arrived after two heavy Test defeats in Australia, which led to Dinesh Chandimal being fired as captain, coach Chandika Hathurusingha having his powers curtailed and major changes in personnel, some caused by injuries.
My biggest low: Faf
Du Plessis described the series loss as "my biggest low as a player in the Proteas team". The South Africa skipper said he was at a loss to explain how 31 wickets fell on the first two days. "I felt it was a really good batting pitch," he said. "Mentally we were a bit soft in giving wickets away pretty easily." Sri Lanka made it four wins in a row against South Africa after winning two matches at home last year.
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