Kusal Perera
Flickr photo by ultraBobban shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC 2.0) license.

Kusal Perera miracle stuns South Africa in Durban

Mustafa Ismail·
Test
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Kusal Perera played one of the greatest Test knocks in recent history to give Sri Lanka a phenomenal win against South Africa…

Sri Lanka needed 78 runs to win, with just one wicket in hand, against one of the best bowling attacks in the world. On a pitch that was already misbehaving, no one had given the South Asian side a chance. However, what transpired was a miracle as Kusal Perera laboured to the end and hit a boundary to notch the winning runs for his team.

Having struggled on the field since Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara retired, it was a welcome boost for Sri Lanka. Despite winning matches at home, they’ve been abysmal on their travels and were up against a South African team that destroyed Asian giants India and Pakistan in the last year.

Since their tour of India, South Africa have conjured pitches that ensure the match doesn’t extend to the fifth day. It’s not impossible to bat on these wickets but you’re never truly settled in as a batsman. Even on a hundred, you could be dismissed by a brutal delivery. For bowlers, especially quickies, it’s paradise. Nonetheless, they shouldn’t get carried away when they can keep it simple while the ball does the rest.

South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first. Despite scoring 235, they managed to dismiss Sri Lanka for 191. They capitalized on the lead in the second innings and were bowled out for 259, setting Sri Lanka a daunting 304 for victory. It seemed like an impossible task. The wicket wasn’t getting any flatter and the South African bowlers were raring to go.

In the second innings, Sri Lanka lost half their side for 110 and were facing an uphill task. That is where Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva put up a sturdy partnership of 96, playing some counter-attacking cricket to shift pressure onto the South Africans. Kusal, in particular, punished anything a bit short and wide through the offside as both batsmen started to build.

Just when things were looking brighter for Sri Lanka, De Silva got out and exposed the tail. Within the blink of an eye, Sri Lanka were 9 down and needed 78 more as the majority of the tail were wiped away. Maharaj was doing the damage and put South Africa on the brink of another home victory. From such a situation, the batting team loses the game 9.9 times out of 10. However, Kusal Perera was determined and searching for a miracle.

With Fernando at the crease at number eleven, Perera had to hog the strike and let loose. This is exactly what he did; every shot was calculated and hit in the right area off the right ball. Yes, there were a couple of occasions when Kusal rode his luck but it was a clinical innings nonetheless, calculated to perfection. The pull and cut shots played by Perera were impeccable and he suddenly got his team within touching distance.

With just 4 runs needed to win now, Kusal slashed hard outside off-stump and found the boundary at third man. That was it – history was created. Sri Lanka had done the impossible, courtesy of Kusal Perera. His innings was reminiscent of Brian Lara’s 153 against Australia in Barbados, which is the biggest compliment for Kusal Perera in itself. No one would’ve thought that this Sri Lankan team were capable of chasing down the target, especially given the situation they were in. But as they say, miracles do happen in cricket.

This match was an excellent advert for Test cricket in what has already been a brilliant year for the format. You never know what to expect. The game can swing either way and each player could be challenged to their full capacity. Here’s to another year of exciting cricket – and make sure you watch the highlights of Kusal Perera’s innings or you could miss out on something special!