That's a superman effort, say Faf du Plessis on Kusal Perera's knock

Perera was on 86 when the ninth wicket fell but managed to keep most of the strike and to hit some telling blows in an innings of 200 balls which included 12 fours and five sixes. "It was a superman effort," said Du Plessis. "He (Perera) deserves all the accolades."

Low previous average
South Africa took the second new ball with the total on 263 but still kept most of their fielders on the boundary for Perera, who hit sixes off both Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada before slashing Rabada to third man for the winning boundary.

Perera, who came into the match with a career batting average below 30 and with his only previous century in 14 previous Tests having been made against Zimbabwe in Harare two seasons ago, shared three important partnerships. He put on 58 for the fourth wicket with debutant Oshado Fernando (37) and 96 for the sixth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (48) before his extraordinary association with Vishwa Fernando. "I'm a little tired now, I don't know what to say," said Perera when he received the man of the match award. "I did my part but we are winning as a team."

The stand with Oshado Fernando was broken by Dale Steyn, who had Fernando caught at second slip by South African captain du Plessis. Two balls later he caught Niroshan Dickwella off his own bowling. Lanka were still a distant 194 runs short of their target when Perera was joined by De Silva, SL's last recognised batsman.

Philander injured
South Africa, who were without opening bowler Vernon Philander because of a strained left hamstring, struggled for the next two hours as Perera and De Silva brought the target down to single figures. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj took two wickets off successive balls, dismissing De Silva leg before wicket and having Suranga Lakmal caught at slip. The next two wickets fell quickly but what seemed certain victory for SA turned into a triumph for the tourists.

Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!