Kusal! Kusal! Improbable Victory in Durban celebrated within an Email Circuit

aa SAF 13

 I = A Note from Mike Morley, A Kiwi in Adelaide

Michael Morley
5:41 AM (43 minutes ago)

I DO hope you hadn’t switched off either after the first 2 wickets in 2 balls, let alone the second. I’d been watching until they got to over 200, and then switched on to watch a bit of the rugby I’d recorded. Then switched back when they were round 220, and decided to watch till the end, as it looked to me that No. 11 just MIGHT last two balls.

Thank God I stayed with it. What a win! And what an innings from Perera!

Unbelievable how unflustered he seemed. And what glorious sixes! Let alone the final four brilliantly placed through slips. His SECOND Test century? Incredible!

You’ll probably be celebrating all week ….. M

II = A Note from Nirgunan Tiruchelvam in Singapore

That was the greatest innings I have ever watched!!
12:15 AM (6 hours ago)
to me, mrober137

III = Michael Roberts to Mike Morley and Nirgunan

WHEN I turned on to watch on TV two wickets fell. I immediately turned the TV off and went to the computer to work.

THAT turned the tide partially …. and my working spell on the computer bolstered KUSAL’s efforts

After ESPN confirmed these BENEFITS, I went back to the TV …..…… and watched the unfolding drama BLISSFULLY

PS ….  hats off too to Muthuthanthrige Vishwa Thilina Fernando …. http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/player/465783.html

AA KUSAL

BACKGROUND

IV = AN Email Note from Palitha Manchanayake, Sunday

Certainly, it is a treat to watch these video clips.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=kJjR19K96q8

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18645/report/1144164/day/4/south-africa-v
s-sri-lanka-1st-test-sl-in-sa-2018-19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJtBM5WNcd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJjR19K96q8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA9kixKlnxg

V = Email note from Errol fernando in Melbourne, Sunday morn:

Michael,

Is this the happiest day of my life? Whatever the answer,I want Kusal Perera to INSTANTLY be made President of Sri Lanka!!

Happy celebrating,

Errol

VI = Liam Brickhill: Topsy-Turvy: Sri Lanka’s Insane Triumph in Durban ………………… … See =  https://cricketique.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/topsy-turvy-sri-lankas-insane-triumph-in-durban/

VI = THE SCORECARD VII:

Sri Lanka 191 (Perera 51, Steyn 4-48) and 304 for 9 (Perera 153*, Vishwa 6*) beat South Africa 235 (de Kock 80, Fernando 4-62) and 259 (du Plessis 90, Embuldeniya 5-66) by one wicket

A see-sawing Test match reached an incredible finale on the fourth afternoon at Kingsmead as Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando put on a record-breaking 10th wicket stand to see their team home in an atmosphere of almost unbearable tension.

Sri Lanka’s last pair came together with 78 still needed and victory virtually assured for South Africa, but as Vishwa clung limpet-like to the crease Perera slugged, slapped and swiped his way to the target. Along the way, both men reached their highest Test scores – Perera finishing on 153, while Vishwa’s more modest – but no less vital in the final analysis – contribution was 6 not out.

South Africa’s bowling plans were stymied by the absence of Vernon Philander, who tweaked his hamstring in the field yesterday and sat the fourth day out. But they should have had as many options as they needed to win the Test, having played five specialist bowlers. Indeed, it looked like South Africa would not miss Philander when, in the space of six overs, Keshav Maharaj scythed through Dhananjaya de Silva, Suranga Lakmal and Kasun Rajitha, and Duanne Olivier’s bouncers quickly bullied Lasith Embuldeniya from the crease.

That brought Vishwa to the middle and from the moment he got there, he was entirely focused on survival. He faced 22 balls before he got off the mark, but an otherwise shotless Vishwa knew his only job was to only survive. At the other end, with so many runs needed and so much time left in the Test, it seemed the best that Perera might hope for was to reach his hundred.

He already had 86 to his name when Vishwa joined him at the crease, and a loft for six over wide long on off Maharaj took him into the 90s. A reverse sweep off the same bowler took him to 99, and a quick single brought the ton. At that point, Sri Lanka still needed 64, and Perera indicated that he clearly didn’t think the job was done yet by farming the strike superbly and picking his opportunities to attack and push the score forward.

Kusal Perera showed guts in tough conditions Getty Images

A second pulled six, off Olivier and onto the grass banks, helped Perera to surpass his previous Test best and, with the new ball two overs away, a drive out to the cover sweeper for two brought the runs required under 50. Faf du Plessis delayed his team’s use of the new ball for five deliveries after it had become available until they had Vishwa on strike, but a hooping Steyn outswinger was too good for him to get close to. And when he was back on strike, Perera sensed his chance to keep the scoreboard ticking over against the hard, new cherry.

South Africa’s nerves began to fray when Dean Elgar missed a shy that would have run Vishwa out, and Perera took the stand beyond 50 – and the target to just 23 – with a mighty mow off Steyn that sent the ball arcing into the stands beyond midwicket. A top edge off Rabada brought a fourth six, and his fifth – off Steyn – left Sri Lanka needing just seven. Some scampering took them down to just a shot away from glory, and Perera held his nerve to the last, steering a length delivery past slip and down to the vacant third-man boundary to complete one of the most remarkable Test chases of all time.

Such superlatives seemed a long way away when South Africa snapped what had become a troublesome 96-run stand between Perera and Dhananjaya after lunch, Maharaj rushing one through Dhananjaya’s sweep to trap him in front of his stumps even as he looked set to reach his fifty. When Suranga Lakmal edged the very next ball to slip, Embuldeniya gloved an Olivier bouncer, and Rajitha played outside one to be given out lbw, it seemed Sri Lanka and Perera had flattered to deceive.

Perera, though, had other ideas. He had also helped his team recover from an earlier stutter when they had slipped from 110 for 3 to 110 for 5 in the course of one Steyn over. Shouldering extra burden in Philander’s absence, Steyn first broke through a stubborn 56-run stand by finding Oshada Fernando’s outside edge for 37. Niroshan Dickwella chipped a return catch back to him two balls later, and South Africa’s thoughts must have turned to a push for victory on either side of the lunch interval.

Perera and Dhananjaya’s stand revived the chase thereafter, but it was the historic partnership between Perera and Vishwa which took Sri Lanka home, and it is that stand for which this match will be most remembered for. This was only the third time a 300-plus total has been chased at Kingsmead, and only the second time that has happened since the turn of the millennium. Thanks to Perera’s superhuman efforts, and Vishwa’s defiance and luck, Sri Lanka will head into the second Test at Port Elizabeth with a 1-0 series lead. A draw there and they will be the first Asian side to win a Test series in South Africa.

VII: ANDREW interviews RUSSEL ….. visit ESPN

AND … and an older story from 2003

An older story = aa SAF 1

3 Comments

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3 responses to “Kusal! Kusal! Improbable Victory in Durban celebrated within an Email Circuit

  1. Dickie Bird

    So much time and so many runs, Kusal Mendis hets out to a needless fancy stroke. Stroke maker he is, he did not know when to or to curb his instincts.
    Moreover when the openers fell in quick succession.
    First Thanks to the bowlers Vishwa F’do and Lasit Ambuldeniya for curbing the South African tail.
    From the moment Kusal Perera walked to the, it was Hosannahs right to the end. Kusal to Vishwa, you are the ROCK & upon you I built the Victory.
    Youngsters are never afraid BUT the selectors have once again overlooked the prolific scorers in the local scene.
    Avishka F’da, P.Nissanka, Sadeera Senadeera (All opening bats) and all Rounder P.K.H Mendis. Anything to go by, these guys produce manificient performances for the ‘A” team against Ireland & continued into the local tournament as well. Yet were ignored.
    Thanks to Kusal, hope this WIN Sri Lanka team can regain the lost confidence.
    Looking forward to the next test as SA will come charging like wounded animals. But, SL must learn to negate.

  2. G. H. Peiris

    The only performance of comparable brilliance which I have seen was by Arjuna way back in the 90s in a test match played against Pakistan at (of all places) Peshawar. It was also against a powerful bowling attack led by Waseem and Wacker when Arjuna, while nursing a severe hand injury (close-up camera images showed a swelling the size of a golf ball), and scored about 50 runs in a last wicket partnership, shielding the other batsman from almost the entire attack.
    This is not to take anything away from what Kusal achieved against all odds.
    What the two SL bowlers did in the first innings also deserve our utmost gratitude.

  3. Having climbed Everest, with only Vishwa and Dananjaya as partners, what more is left for Kusal to do?
    It is up to him, but there is much to do if he motivates himself to travel ‘the long road to the deep north’. Sanath was a great model but now Kusal could emulate Mahela and Sanga, and to think the unthinkable, emulate Sachin and Lara. Kusal has shown he can do it.
    Arjuna has spoken about how the team relied on Aravinda to produce the runs and put up with whatever were his preferences (like western music) to ensure the runs kept coming. Sanath has spoken about putting up with Murali’s strong views on how the game should be played (Murali was mostly right) so that he continued to terrorise opposition batsmen.
    Kusal could aspire to be the great batsman that will attract similar respect from the team, the world of cricket and all the fans.
    It is up to him.

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