Cricket is a game of character and it is the player who performs that role and produces the defining moment of the game that lingers in the memory for a long time.
The Sri Lanka team had been steam-rolled to the point of no return following six defeats in their last seven Test matches and it could not get any worse, but for them to start their journey on an upward curve. To do that they needed an unlikely hero and they found one in the form of Kusal Perera who played one of the greatest rearguard innings ever seen in Test cricket to change the course of a losing match into a winning one with a courageous 153 not out in the first Test at Kingsmead, Durban that left the Proteas in disbelief as to how a match that was within their grasp could so cruelly be snatched away by one man.
When the ninth wicket fell at 226, Sri Lanka were still 78 runs adrift of their target of 304 and with last man Vishwa Fernando joining Perera no one in his wildest of dreams would have given the Lankans a dog’s chance of winning. Not even the punter would have put his money on Sri Lanka going by their current Test form
But lo and behold Fernando who has no reputation as a batsman having collected four ducks in his previous seven Test innings managed to survive 27 balls and hang around at the crease for 73 minutes (he had not batted more than 25 minutes for his previous best stint at the crease) to produce one of the greatest turnarounds in Test history as he helped the rampaging Perera to forge a world record for the highest 4th-innings 10th-wicket stand to win a Test with 78. That partnership broke the previous best of 57 by Pakistani pair Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed against Australia at Karachi in 1994. In fact the Perera-Fernando partnership was also the highest for the tenth wicket to win a match in first-class cricket beating the 77 (unbroken) between T Leather and R Oxenham for Australia v Madras at Madras in 1936.
Mind you this was not against any ordinary bowling attack but one of the best in the business comprising the incomparable Dale Steyn, Kasigo Rabada (the world no. 1 ranked Test bowler), Duanne Olivier (destroyer of the Pakistani batting with 24 wickets in 3 Tests) and Keshav Maharaj. Of course South Africa who went into the Test with five bowlers didn’t have the services of Vernon Philander (hamstring) on the fourth day, but they had enough fire power in their ranks to run through a fragile Sri Lankan batting order sans two of their most experienced middle order batters Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews.
VISHWA FERNANDO’S ROLE
 Kusal Perera’s batting has been compared with that of Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya. |
When Fernando arrived at the crease Perera was in his eighties and few would have given him a chance to get to his century knowing his partner had little or no experience as a batsman – a Test average of 2 and a first-class average of 7. But to Fernando’s credit he stuck it out bravely to score a plucky six not out of which four were overthrows. He had already made his mark as a left-arm swing bowler with eight wickets in the match and here he was displaying pluck and courage to help his team win a match. It was a win which the team so desperately needed and the scenes that followed in the Lankan dressing room as soon as Perera had guided a Rabada delivery through vacant third man for four – a similar stroke that Arjuna Ranatunga played for Sri Lanka to win the World Cup in 1996 – showed how relieved they were.
The win could be the turning point for the Lankan team following years of struggle to strike a winning formula. They are not far away from doing that. It needed some audacious decisions from the national selection committee headed by former Sri Lankan quick Ashantha de Mel who brought about radical changes to the squad to South Africa to make the turnaround. They were bold enough to drop regular Test captain Dinesh Chandimal and ageing spinner Dilruwan Perera and with a string of injuries to established fast bowlers like Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara they had no alternative but to pick an inexperienced seam attack which apart from Suranga Lakmal had played only eight Tests and captured 22 wickets between them. Two of the debutants batsman Oshada Fernando and left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya made their mark in international cricket. Fernando, the leading run-getter in Sri Lanka’s domestic first-class tournament the Premier League this season with over 1000 runs asked to fill the important no. 3 slot scored 19 and a fighting 37 and, Embuldeniya who took one wicket for 51 in the first innings was responsible for South Africa’s sensational batting collapse after tea on the third day where they lost their last five second innings wickets for eight runs returning figures of 5/66 on his Test debut.
KUSAL HAD DONE IT BEFORE
The gamble could have easily misfired when the ninth wicket fell for 226 but in Perera they found an improbable hero who stood tall as wickets fell around him to carry his team to an epic win. Facing probably the most fearsome fast bowling attack in contemporary cricket Perera took several blows to his head and body to put up a brave front and come out victorious.
This is not the first time that Perera had produced a gem of an innings to win a Test for his country against all odds. In June last year in the Caribbean, Perera was once again the conqueror but in different circumstances. He had hurt himself by crashing into an advertising hoarding attempting a catch on the long-on boundary during the West Indies second innings of the third Test at Bridgetown, Barbados and was taken off the field on a stretcher and kept in hospital under observation. Thankfully he was cleared of any serious injury but he had badly hurt his chest and on the final day of the match with Sri Lanka wobbling at 81-6 chasing 144 for victory he came to bat with his chest swathed in bandages to defy the awkward bounce and chest high pitched deliveries of Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins to construct a match-winning 63-run seventh wicket partnership with Dilruwan Perera and steer his team to a series-levelling four-wicket win. Kusal made a courageous 28 not out off 43 balls and Dilruwan 23 not out off 68. In this Test too Sri Lanka were without their senior most batsmen Mathews, Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne and in the face of adversity it was Kusal Perera who put his hand up to become the improbable hero.
Kusal was not in the Test radar for some time being out of contention since June 2018 and was brought back into the side for the two-Test series against Australia. He was left out of the first and in the second played at Canberra was forced to retire hurt at 27 in the first innings after sustaining a nasty blow on the side of his helmet from a Jhye Richardson bouncer. Kusal had certainly taken quite a few knocks on the current tour which certainly had toughened him up as he displayed in his five-hour and 200-ball stint at the crease at Durban.
CHILDHOOD HERO
Kusal’s style of play has more or less been compared to his childhood idol and hero the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya. He even changed his batting stance from being a right-hand batsman at the younger age of 11-13 years to become a left-hander like Jayasuriya.
Educated at Kottawa Dharmapala MV and Royal College Colombo Kusal with his fearless and audacious stroke-play reminiscent of Jayasuriya has the experience of opening the batting for his country and also batting in the middle order. Many are of the view that Kusal is best suited to bat in the middle in Test matches where he with his experience as an opener (in white ball cricket) will be able to handle the second new ball better than most. Kusal could certainly bolster Sri Lanka’s fragile middle order and his heroic 153 not out following his first innings top score of 51 batting at no.
5 bears testimony to the fact. His performances however has remained erratic and inconsistent, perhaps this series might find him a permanent slot in the Test batting line-up.
BITTEN BY LEECH AND BANNED
Kusal’s career has not been without drama. In December 2015 he was recalled from a tour of New Zealand after he was initially tested positive for a banned substance that was contained in the medicine that he took for a leech bite. He was subsequently debarred from international cricket. However in May 2016 he was cleared of the charges when the integrity of the laboratory in Qatar that tested his B sample was brought into question with the ICC hiring an independent expert to find that the lab’s outcome was not sustainable. After being cleared Kusal said, “I don’t think there has been much damage done to my reputation,” after the media, fans and Sri Lanka Cricket stood by him.
Kusal has repaid their trust in him in no uncertain manner with his Durban masterpiece.
Who said that Test cricket was dying? Matches like this are an endorsement for Test cricket.
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RECORDS BROKEN BY KUSAL PERERA
* Highest by a Sri Lankan in a successful 4th-innings chase. Previously: 143 (n.o.) by Aravinda de Silva, v Zim, 1998-99.
* Third player to make more than 50% of a successful 4th-inns chase of 300+ runs. Greenidge, 214 (n.o.) out of 344-1, WI v Eng, Lord’s 1984. Butcher, 173 (n.o) out of 315-4, Eng v Aus, Leeds 2001. Perera, 153 (n.o.) out of 304-9, SL v SA, Durban.
* Highest score in successful 4th-inns chase batting 5 or lower: Perera, 153 (n.o.), no.5, SL v SA, Durban, won by 1wkt. Brian Lara, 153 (n.o.), no.5, WI v Aus, 1998-99, also won by 1wkt. Neil Harvey, 151 (n.o.), no.5, Aus v SA, also in Durban, 1949-50.
* Highest 10th wkt partnership in 4th innings to win a first-class match: 78 - K Perera/V Fernando SL v SA Durban 2019, 77 - T Leather/R Oxenham Aus v Madras Madras 1936, 57 - Inzamam-ul-Haq/Mushtaq Ahmed Pak v Aus Karachi 1994 (Prev highest in Tests)
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ON TWITTER
Kumar Sangakkara (former Sri Lanka captain)
“KJP just scored what could be the greatest innings ever in an overseas run chase by a Sri Lankan batsman. Brings back memories of the brilliant hundred by MahelaJay against SA in 2006 at The P Sara.
Mahela Jayawardene (former Sri Lanka captain)
”What a beauty!!!! One of the best innings under pressure. Showed intelligence and mental strength KJP and very proud of you.”
Michael Vaughan (former England captain)
“Kusal Perera !!!! WOW .... One of the greatest Test innings of all time .....”
Sanjay Manjrekar (former Indian cricketer)
“Has to be one of the all time great innings that from Kusal Perera! Great for him, great for Test cricket! Wow! What a result!”
Ian Bishop (former West Indies fast bowler)
“Well played Kusal Perera and SLC that was a knock for the ages. Gripping test cricket. Gosh I hope test cricket continues to be this good all year as we’ve seen in the last three weeks.”
Ravichandran Ashwin (Indian spinner)
“Did someone say test cricket is dying?? Sri Lanka!!! you beauty, take a bow Kusal Perera and well done to Dimuth for a historic win.
Andy Zaltzman (British comedian and author)
“That was one of the most incredible passages of cricket I’ve seen. Kusal Perera rockets into the catalogue of greatest Test innings. The record for highest 4th-innings 10th-wicket stand to win a Test has been smashed. Was 57, now 78”.
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