The South African team have climbed to the top of the ICC Test Championship standings.
Though he admitted they hadn’t yet looked ahead to their upcoming Test series against Pakistan, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged his team would need to switch their focus soon, facing a relatively quick turnaround after their dominant victory over Sri Lanka.
The SA squad wrapped up a convincing 2-0 series win by coasting to a 109-run triumph in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha on Monday (after winning the first Test by 233 runs in Durban).
It was a solid all-round effort by the hosts at St George’s Park, with spin bowler Keshav Maharaj and seamer Dane Paterson each taking seven wickets in the match, while Ryan Rickelton (101) and Kyle Verreynne (105 not out) both scored centuries in the Proteas’ first innings.
Bavuma also played a key role, contributing half-centuries in both his team’s innings to build on his superb recent form.
“This Test for a lot of the guys was a proper test,” said Bavuma, who was named Player of the Series (having also scored a century in the first match).
“It’s rare that you get to play all five days, and it’s rare that the game swings both sides, so we must give credit to Sri Lanka for the way they went about their business.
“They asked the right questions and made us work hard for the win, and we’ll take a lot of pride as a group.”
One more win required
While they climbed to the top of ICC Test Championship rankings, bumping Australia down into second place, the Proteas needed to beat Pakistan in one of their two Tests to ensure they secured a spot in next year’s final.
However, Bavuma said they wanted to take some time to soak in their victory over Sri Lanka before focussing on the series against Pakistan starting in Centurion on 26 December.
“For now we’ll enjoy the moment, and celebrate and acknowledge what we’ve achieved as a team,” the skipper said.
“Probably after a week or so we’ll start talking about Pakistan, have a look at the venues we’re playing at – SuperSport Park and Newlands – and start understanding what we expect from a conditions point of view so we can put together a team that can speak to those venues.
“I think from a hunger and desire point of view we’ll keep feeding into those things, and we know where we would like to be as a team, and that’s always at the back of our minds.”
