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. The series victory propelled South Africa 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. South Africa had won the opening Test in Galle by 153 runs.