- It was the 1505th Test in cricket history.
It was Sri Lanka's 104th and South Africa's 244th Test.It was the seventh Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa.The
record now reads: South Africa 4, Sri Lanka 1, drawn 2.It was the fifth Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa on Sri
Lankan soil. The record now reads : South Africa 2, Sri Lanka 1, drawn
2.Gamini Silva was making his debut as a Test umpire. He became 16th
Sri Lankan to officiate in a Test. For other umpire Daryll Harper it
was his eighth match.Gary Kirsten was playing his 62nd Test. He is now at par with
Allan Donald. Only Hansie Cronje has now appeared in more Tests for
South Africa (68).Gary Kirsten and Neil McKenzie were dismissed without scoring in
first innings. This provided the second instance of both opening
batsmen being dismissed without scoring in the same innings for South
Africa.The only other South African pair to do so was Jackie McGlew
and Trevor Goddard against England at Lord's in 1955.The wicket of Jacques Kallis in the first innings was the 50th for
Muralitharan against South Africa. He became the first Sri Lankan and
the 12th bowler overall to do so. Only Australia's Shane Warne (64
wickets in 12 Tests) and India's Javagal Srinath (51 wickets in 11
Tests) and Anil Kumble (51 wickets in 12 Tests) have taken 50 wickets
against South Africa since its return to Test cricket in 1992.When Mark Boucher reached 46 he completed 1000 runs in his 30th
Test and 38th innings. He became the 33rd South African and the 356th
batsman in Test cricket to reach this milestone.Boucher also became the 30th wicketkeeper to complete 1000 runs in
a Test career. The roster of keepers with 1000 or more runs in a Test
career includes seven Englishmen (Lesley Ames, Godfrey Evans, Alan
Knott, Jim Parks, Jack Russell, Alec Stewart and Bob Taylor), three
Australians, (Ian Healy, Rodney Marsh and Bert Oldfield), five South
Africans (Johnny Waite- 2323 runs in 48 Tests,Dave Richardson -1359
runs in 42 Tests,HB Cameron-1239 Tests in 26 Tests, Denis Lindsay 1000
runs in 15 Tests and Mark Boucher 1029 runs in 30 Tests), two West
Indians (Jeff Dujon and Deryck Murray), four Indians (Farokh Engineer,
Syed Kirmani, Nayan Mongia and Kiran More), four Pakistanis (Imtiaz
Ahmed, Moin Khan, Wasim Bari and Salim Yousuf), three New Zealanders
(Adam Parore, Ian Smith and Ken Wadsworth), one Sri Lankan (Romesh
Kaluwitharana) and one Zimbabwean (Andy Flower).Boucher also became the second South African and the 23rd keeper
in Test annals to achieve the allround double of 1000 runs and 100
dismissals. At 23 years 230 days Boucher is the youngest to complete
the wicketkeeping double.He chopped about one and a half years off the
previous record - England's Alan Knott was 25 years 120 days old when
he completed his double in Tests in 1971.The sixth wicket partnership of 124 runs between Lance Klusener
and Mark Boucher in the first innings is South Africa's highest for
this wicket against Sri Lankahome or away. This obliterates the
previous highest of 122 between Daryll Cullinan and Dave Richardson at
Colombo PSS in 1993-94.The ninth wicket stand of 37 runs in the first innings between
Klusener and Paul Adams was South Africa's best for this wicket
against Sri Lanka. The partnership was however bettered in the second
innings with a 45 run stand between Nicky Boje and Adams. The previous
best for South Africa against Sri Lanka before this Test was paltry 12
run stand between Paul Adams and Shaun Pollock at Cape Town in
1997-98.The tenth wicket stand of 43 runs between Klusener and Nantie
Hayward
in the first innings is a new record for South Africa for this wicket
against Sri Lanka beating the 14 run-partnership between Paul Adams
and Mkhaya Ntini at Centurion in 1997-98.The catch of Jayawardene in the first innings was the 50th for
Daryll Cullinan. He became the second South African after Bruce
Mitchell (56 catches in 42 Tests) and 65th fieldsman in Test cricket
to do so.The duck in the first innings was the 13th for Muttiah
Muralitharan in his career. Now only Pramodya Wickremasinghe has
aggregated more ducks in a career for Sri Lanka- 17. Muralitharan
moved ahead of Arjuna Ranatunga who also has a tally of 12 ducks.
Muralitharan later extended his tally of ducks to 14.South Africa's second innings total of 231 is its lowest against
Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. The previous lowest was 238 that was made in
the last Test at Galle. However South Africa's alltime lowest against
Sri Lanka still remains as 200 at Centurion in 1997-98.The wicket of Mark Boucher in the second innings was the 150th for
Muralitharan on Sri Lankan soil in his 29th Test.Murali became the
first Sri Lankan and the 18th bowler in Test history to aggregate 150
or more wickets in matches at home. The list comprises of four
Englishmen (Alec Bedser, Ian Botham, Fred Trueman and Bob Willis),
three Australians (Dennis Lillee, Craig McDermott and Shane Warne),one
South African (Allan Donald), three West Indians (Curtly Ambrose,
Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh), one New Zealander (Richard
Hadlee), two Indians (Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble) and three Pakistanis
(Abdul Qadir, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram) and one Sri Lankan (Muttiah
Muralitharan).Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya became the third Sri Lankan
pair of opening batsmen to be dismissed without scoring in the same
innings when both were out to the very first ball they faced.
S Wettimuny and ERNS Fernando (v Australia,Kandy,1982-83) were the
earlier pair to do so.For the first time in Test cricket opening pairs of either side
failed to open their account in the same Test.Marvan Atapattu became the fifth Sri Lankan to make a century and
a duck in the same Test after Arjuna Ranatunga (127 & 0 vs Australia
at Colombo in 1992-93), Aravinda de Silva (0 & 105 vs Pakistan at
Faisalabad in 1995-96), Hasan Tillekeratne (115 & 0 vs Pakistan at
Faisalabad in 1995-96) and Tillekeratne Dilshan (163* & 0 vs Zimbabwe
at Harare in 1999-00).Muarlitharan became the 10th Sri Lankan (on 12th occasion) to bag
a Test match pair. Interestingly he became the first Sri Lankan to
suffer this fate on home soil.He also became the 20th batsman to do so
against South Africa.When Arjuna Ranatunga reached 25 in the second innings he
completed 5000 runs in Test cricket in his 92nd Test and 153rd
innings. He became the second Sri Lankan after Aravinda de Silva (5685
runs in 84 matches) and the 45th batsman in Test cricket to achieve
this landmark.Ranatunga raced to his fifty off only 36 balls in the second
innings. He now holds the record of scoring the fastest fifty for Sri
Lanka. Ranatunga bettered his own record. He had completed his fifty
off 43 balls during his innings of 131 also against South Africa at
Moratuwa in 1993-94.Ranatunga just failed to equal India's Mohammad Azharuddin's
record of fastest fifty against South Africa. Azharuddin had taken 35
balls to complete his fifty at Calcutta in 1996-97.Ranatunga had last scored a century way back in August 1993 when
he made 131 against South Africa at Moratuwa. Since then he has played
49 Tests and 81 innings aggregating 2556 runs without ever reaching
the three figure mark, though he has crossed 50 run mark on 22
occasions during this period. Ranatunga now holds the record of
aggregating most runs and scoring most fifties during part of a career
without scoring a century. The following table has the details :
Runs Batsman (Country) Period Ins NO Hs Ave. 50s
2556 Arjuna Ranatunga (SL) 1993-94 to 2000-01 81 7 90 34.54 22
2199 Rameez Raja (Pak) 1986-87 to 1996-97 74 4 98 31.41 19
2113 Allan Border (Aus) 1988-89 to 1992-93 61 14 91*44.95 21
2084 Chetan Chauhan (Ind) 1969-70 to 1980-81 68 2 97 31.57 16 #
1993 Deryck Murray (WI) 1963 to 1980 96 9 91 22.90 11 #
1978 Trevor Goddard (SA) 1955 to 1964-65 61 5 99 35.32 15
1814 Wasim Raja (Pak) 1976-77 to 1983-84 58 7 97 35.56 15
1811 Malcolm Marshall (WI) 1978-79 to 1991 107 11 92 18.86 10 #
1805 Alistair Campbell(Zim)1992-93 to 2000 76 2 99 24.39 11 #
1764 Gus Logie (WI) 1987-88 to 1991 53 8 98 39.20 13
1752 Trevor Bailey (Eng) 1950-51 to 1958-59 74 8 95 26.54 7
1723 Alan Knott (Eng) 1971 to 1974-75 63 4 92 29.20 14
1653 Bob Simpson (Aus) 1957-58 to 1964 51 5 92 36.93 15
1639 AW Nourse (SA) 1902-03 to 1921-22 63 8 93*29.80 12
1613 Shane Warne (Aus) 1992-93 to 1999-00 117 12 86 15.36 4 #
1609 Rameez Raja (Pak) 1986-87 to 1992-93 58 5 98 30.35 13
1553 John Emburey (Eng) 1978 to 1992-93 91 18 75 21.25 8 #
1507 Ken Mackay (Aus) 1956 to 1963 52 7 89 33.48 13 #
The victory margin of seven runs is the seventh narrowest in Test
annals and second narrowest for South Africa. South Africa had beaten
Australia by 5 runs at Sydney in 1993-94. The accompanying table lists
the narrowest wins in Test cricket :
Margin Countries Venue Season
1 run WI (252 + 146) bt Aus (213 + 184) Adelaide 1992-93
3 runs Aus (299 + 86) bt Eng (262 + 120) Manchester 1902
3 runs Eng (284 + 294) bt Aus (287 + 288) Melbourne 1982-83
5 runs SA (169 + 239) bt Aus (292 + 111) Sydney 1993-94
6 runs Aus (182 + 155) bt Eng (133 + 207) Sydney 1884-85
7 runs Aus ( 63 + 122) bt Eng (101 + 77) The Oval 1882
7 runs SA (253 + 231) bt SL (308 + 169) Kandy 2000-01
10 runs Eng (325 + 437) bt Aus (586 + 166) Sydney 1894-95