That ends a pretty one-sided contest from Durban. South Africa were always the favourites but given the confidence Sri Lanka have been blooming with in the past few months, we expected much better. The second Test is not far away, scheduled on Thursday, in Gqeberha and rest assured, there is going to be no letup in terms of a green deck. The Lankans have been decent with the ball, but need to find a way to bat better and longer. Both teams still have a decent chance to make it to the World Test Championship final with the Proteas now in SECOND PLACE and will be eager to strike the right chord in the second Test. The first ball will be bowled at 8 am GMT on Thursday, 5th December, 2024, in that game but our buildup will begin much earlier. Do join us early then. But before that, there is cricketing action to be followed from New Zealand, in the NZ-Eng Test, also from West Indies, in the WI-Ban Test and also the Zimbabwe-Pakistan T20Is. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

TEMBA BAVUMA, South Africa's victorious skipper, is up for a chat now. Bavuma says he is very happy and it is always nice to start the series with a win. Talks about the tough position they were in on Day 1 but mentions that they believed that they could get out of it and just wanted to put in a partnership. Adds that they assessed that the conditions were favouring seamers and they knew they could exploit them seeing how Sri Lanka bowled. Says that batting was a bit tricky and the intent needed to be there to score and find the odd boundaries. Further mentions that they knew they would have to toil hard to find those last 5 wickets on Day 4 but adds that the way the bowlers did it was great, especially without Mulder. Mentions that they will have to find a replacement for Mulder and the medical team will assess Coetzee. On WTC, he says there have been conversations around it but they haven't kept it too loud and are focusing on how they perform as a team and then let things take care of themselves.

DHANANJAYA DE SILVA, Sri Lanka's captain, admits that the game was lost in their first innings with the bat, putting water over their bowling efforts in the first innings. On the team's mindset after that batting debacle, de Silva plays all around the question, citing that they need to get better. Says that the initial plan was to at least get to 140-150 in the first innings, but it did not happen. Praises Marco Jansen who just did not allow them to breathe. However, the skipper does not want to look too much into the loss and says that it is just one batting debacle. On being asked about what he was asking when he was batting, de Silva says that he was just looking to bat through Day 4.

MARCO JANSEN HAS BEEN NAMED THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH FOR HIS MATCH FIGURES OF 11/86. Jansen says he had always dreamt of taking 5 wickets but to take 10 is a very special feeling and any bowler's dream. Adds that it all sunk in on Friday night and is very glad about how it all panned out. Mentions that the pitch was flatter in the second inning and the ball was doing something every now and then. Concludes that he went through a training and conditioning period and is now enjoying his cricket with a fresh mind.

... THE PRESENTATION ...

Talking about the bowlers, the lanky man stands out tall. Marco Jansen. He blew away the Lankans in their first innings, taking 7 wickets in 41 balls, that means a wicket in roughly every 6 balls! And in the second dig, he finished with 4 wickets, to grab 11 for the match. Kagiso Rabada was decent but bowled way too many no balls. Gerald Coetzee was a big problem, as he leaked way too many runs. From a Sri Lankan perspective, despite the heavy loss, one has to laud the fighting spirit of the three seamers - Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando ​​​and ​Lahiru Kumara. The two Fernandos were nipping the ball beautifully early on while Kumara hit the deck hard throughout. Bores well for Sri Lanka's future. Please stay tuned for the presentation...

Let's give the tourists an applause for showing at least some fight on Saturday. Many thought that it was a matter of a wicket and they would capitulate but Chandimal, skipper Dhananjaya and Kusal Mendis made the Proteas stretch. Eventually, they did fall off towards the end, slipping from 271/6 to 282 all out, but had this type of a scorecard come in the first innings, this match could have been in the balance. Nevertheless, the Lankans have got some batting practice ahead of the second Test.

The verdict was out early with Sri Lanka staring at a target of 516. They lost two quickly too, but then Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal fought hard. This was amidst a hostile spell by Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, where Chandimal took a lot of blows as well. However, with the fading light and the seamers being allowed to bowl, the Lankans fell prey to that dangerous bowling as they slipped from 82/2 to 101/5. And come Day 4, it was just a matter of when.

After such a horror show in a matter of 70-odd minutes, the visitors found it very tough to lift themselves up. The pitch had seemingly gotten better and though they picked up 3 wickets seemingly quickly, they were given a practical examination on how to bat in difficult conditions by Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs. More so, Stubbs, because normally known as a T20 specialist, he had made the world known that he is eager to do well in Tests after the disappointment in Bangladesh. It was a real grind as both batters were supreme in their concentration levels and the Lankans threw in the towel.

Was the pitch unplayable? Difficult, yes. But not unplayable. Remember, South Africa were 117/7 in the first innings. But Temba Bavuma rallied his lower order around to get to 191, a much decent score. When Sri Lanka came to bat, either they were way too happy with their bowlers and thought that 191 was an underpar score, or had just not factored the change in pitches from Dambulla to Durban. Feet were nowhere near the ball, too many shots were played away from the body and there was simply no patience. Result? Before you could blink, South Africa were batting again.

Talk about 46 all out in Bengaluru. Or 42 all out in Durban. You fall so far behind in the game, that even if you fight hard in the next innings, water has already flown under the bridge. The 46 all out refers to India against New Zealand earlier this year, which also saw them post 462 in the second innings. But did not help. Similarly, here, if you look in isolation, 282 by Sri Lanka is a commendable effort with the bat in the 4th innings. But that 42 all out in their first innings pushed them so far back, that all chances of coming back seemed next to impossible.

There is always a first. Before this game, South Africa had never defeated Sri Lanka in a Test match in Durban. It has happened now. They are pumped up and their dream of reaching the World Test Championship final is still alive.

Asitha Fernando is the last man in, replacing Kusal Mendis.