Vegetarian food and tackling spin are two things that South Africans absolutely dread and Sri Lanka decided their visitors will have to confront one of them if they are to breach the fortress of Galle. And, the Proteas caved in.
The moment Sri Lankan captain Suranga Lakmal won the toss, you knew it will be an uphill task for Faf du Plessis led South Africa. Batting first on an expectedly sharp turning surface, designed for one team to exposed the other's frailties, Dimuth Karunaratne put up a batting marathon to take Sri Lanka's score to impregnable proportions. To Karunaratne's 158, the second highest individual score in the innings was just 26 but the home side still amassed 287 runs on the board despite good spells from Kagiso Rabada(4/50) and Tabraiz Shamsi(3/91)
287 was always a bridge too far for the Proteas, as they folded in the first innings for just 126 against the spin, guile and turn of Dilruwan Perera and the relentless accuracy coupled with the bite from the pitch from Rangana Herath.
This turned out to be the theme of the game, as despite getting bowled out for just 190 the second time, Sri Lanka took the game way away from the technically inefficient guests batting line up by giving them a target of 352 runs.
Herath and Perera came out again and simply rip apart South Africa for an embarrassing team total of just 73 and finished off an impressive performance to win the game by 278 runs.
This win has amused everyone around the cricketing world but more so the former Sri Lankan legends.
Greats like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara expressed their happiness about the win through the social media, as they took to Twitter and appreciated the Sri Lankan team for their performance and congratulated them.
Good show from the two smart spinners @HerathRSL and Dilruwan. Come on boys..????
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) July 14, 2018
Clinical and ruthless by @OfficialSLC. Brilliant by the spinners Dilruwan and the legend @HerathRSL. Huge congrats. Crushing win
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) July 14, 2018