Sri Lanka and Proteas should serve up a Test feast

In light of sexier series happening elsewhere — the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia and Brendon McCullum’s return to his homeland with England — Sri Lanka vs South Africa isn’t drawing the kind of attention two teams battling it out for a World Test Championship final spot should. 

It’s just that while everyone has a rivalry with England and wherever India goes is a big deal, South Africa and Sri Lanka haven’t stirred up the public’s attention as much. 

And yet, of the last nine Tests between the countries, South Africa have won five and Sri Lanka four. Half of Sri Lanka’s wins in that period came during the historic series in 2019, when they won matches in Durban and Gqeberha, the same cities in which this year’s series between the teams takes place. 

Sri Lanka have produced magic here, including an innings from Kusal Perera in Durban five years ago that ranks on any list of the "greatest innings ever played". In Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews and their captain Dhananjaya de Silva they have three players who were part of that group, and they have delivered performances over the years that have ensured Sri Lanka keep surprising the bigger nations. 

Perera isn’t part of Sri Lanka’s squad this year, but Kamindu Mendis is. While Joe Root and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been the most talked about batters in 2024, Mendis has arguably had the biggest impact and matched records achieved by Donald Bradman. 

The 26-year-old has a Test average of 91.27 after eight matches, and needs only 57 runs to reach 1,000 in Tests this year. His output has been staggering and includes hundreds in each innings of a match against Bangladesh in March, a century in his first Test in England in August and back-to-back hundreds against New Zealand in September. 

De Silva, Mathews and Chandimal have all also scored over 500 runs this year, which has put Sri Lanka in contention for the World Test Championship. 

Their bowlers have been reliable too. The unit isn’t a one-dimensional spinning group either, though left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya’s 38 wickets have him among the top 10 wicket-takers in 2024. Like Mendis with the bat, Jayasuriya with the ball is also close to a record — if he takes three wickets in the first Test he’ll be joint-second-fastest to 100 Test wickets alongside four others, of whom only Pakistan’s Yasir Shah achieved the landmark after World War 2.

If the pitches at Kingsmead and St George’s Park offer more assistance to seam bowlers than has been the case domestically in the last few years, Sri Lanka have the armoury to exploit those conditions too. 

Asitha Fernando, who made his debut in Johannesburg in 2021, is a "skiddy" seamer who targets the stumps and has taken 29 wickets at an average of 22.55 this year. Lahiru Kumara may not have fulfilled all of the promise he showed as a junior player, but this year has been a valuable performer for his side with 22 wickets at 20.63.

Overseeing all of it is the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya, who revolutionised one-day batting and was appointed as head coach on a permanent basis a month ago, having been in charge on an interim basis since the tour to England. 

“Sri Lanka have done really well since Sanath Jayasuriya took over. He’s shifted their mindsets,” Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj said on Monday. “They have guys who are in form and the experience of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal will be inspirational.”

The tourists have had a group of batters in the country in the last fortnight preparing for the series, illustrating the seriousness with which they view these two matches. The appointment of Neil McKenzie as a batting consultant is another demonstration of their desire to win. 

A three-Test series would have created more intrigue, but such is the way for teams who are not part of the "Big 3". South Africa vs Sri Lanka may not have as much hype as the series taking place in the Antipodes, but the importance it holds for the ICC’s premier Test competition is enormous.