Cricket Classics - Part II: The Durban Miracle

Hello, fellow Sports Enthusiasts,

Cricket is not a just sport between two teams; it's a battle of skills, strategy, and capitalizing on clutch moments. Although the game has transformed over the decades, it has never failed to impress us or leave us with unforgettable moments.

So, through this series, I will present you some of the most iconic cricket matches that have made fans jump out of their seats. Let's remember those legendary games once a week.

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A magnificent knock by Kusal Perera under Pressure helped Sri Lanka to secure a famous win against South Africa in 2019. Is it the greatest Test inning ever? Well, before coming to that let's talk about the classic match on our second episode.

In February 2019, Sri Lanka toured South Africa for a 2-match Test series, under the captain Dimuth Karunatne. At that time, Sri Lanka was in very poor form, lack of consistency, and with many inexperienced players. Furthermore, we have never won a Test series on South African soil ever. On the other hand, SA was in a dominance especially at home, with a collection of players like, Amla, De Kock, Du Plessis, Elgar and Steyn, Rabada, and Philander. It felt like an already-known win for the hosts. But what happened?

image from here & upsclaed by leonardo.ai

It was a pretty nasty wicket at Kingsmead, Durban in the first Test that occurred from February 13-16, 2019. SA started the batting and the first over from Lakmal was maiden and the Vishwa Fernando took the big man Elgar before scoring. Anyway with a good fifty from Kock, SA concluded the first inning for 235-10 in 59.4 Overs. Vishwa took 04 wickets.

It was never easy for SL batters against a quality fast balling line-up from SA. Some took the start, but only Kusal Perera, our protagonist crossed the fifty mark. So, as the reply we could only put a total of 191-10 in 59.2 overs.

The hosts became slightly better in the second innings and managed to score 259 setting a target of 304 runs with almost 3 days in hand. Du Plessis and De Kock strengthened the innings with half-centuries.

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Chase was on. But Sri Lanka lost the wickets in regular intervals seeing the win was fading away. Kusal Perera came to the strike at 52-3. He builds the inning calmly from one end from there while others fall out. The only decent partnerships were with Oshada Fernando and Dhananjaya de Silva. The match was almost sealed, when Sri Lanka lost the 9th wicket at 226 runs, with 78 more runs remaining.

At that moment Kusal Perera took charge. He was just 86 runs, and he got a reliable partner in Vishwa Fernando, the No. 11. Vishwa just had to survive, and give the rotation to Perera as much as possible. Perera was fearless. He was calm and managing the immense pressure well. He attacked and found boundaries against Rabada and Steyn as well. 03 sixes against these two at the last moment was a delight to watch.

From the status of defeat, he sealed the match by one wicket with a boundary from an unbeaten knock of 153 runs*. It was a historic win for Sri Lanka and one of the greatest Test matches ever in history.

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The knock was praised as the greatest Test knock ever by many specialists, edging Graham Gooch's 154 at Headingley in 1991 against West Indies, Brian Lara’s 153 against Australia in 1999, and Stoke's 135 runs in Ashes in the same year.

The inning becomes so special, as it was an away win, against one hell of a pace attack, on a relatively poor pitch, where most of the runs came with the tail-enders and 78 runs with the last man.

Anyway, it may or may to be the best inning ever, but probably one of the greatest knocks and the match for sure.

See you at the next episode!! You can always suggest a match to remember

src - Sri Lanka tour of South Africa, 2019

Thank you.
Best Regards!