A proud Proteas record is suddenly very much in danger

It elicited only a brief mention by Proteas captain Faf du Plessis but South Africa’s excellent home record will be at stake when they take on Sri Lanka in the second and final Test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.

The Proteas have not lost a Test series at home since January 16, 2016, when England completed their series win with a 2-0 lead with one game to play, but Sri Lanka, having shocked  the world with their extraordinary one-wicket victory at Kingsmead last weekend, are now on the brink of becoming the first sub-continental side to triumph in a series in South Africa, providing they can avoid defeat in Port Elizabeth.

Both India and England have longer winning runs at home, with India unbeatable at home since December 17, 2012, when England beat them, while Sri Lanka, coincidentally, were also the last team to tour England and win the series, back in June 2014.

“We’re very motivated and it’s disappointing that it’s only two matches against Sri Lanka, but we have to make sure we square the series up because we have a very proud record here in South Africa,” Du Plessis said at St George’s Park on Wednesday.

So how do South Africa go about ensuring they beat Sri Lanka this time around and not let them off the hook? Well don’t dare mention any sort of last-wicket choking because Du Plessis reckons the Proteas don’t have to do much differently to what they did in Durban, just that little bit better.

“It was obviously very disappointing to lose, but we felt in control pretty much most of the Test, and then something brilliant took it away from us. There are areas we can improve, areas to be better in – like scoring more runs and maybe wrapping up their tail better – but we didn’t make too many errors. I don’t feel like we had a bad game in Durban.

“Sri Lanka produced some excellent individual performances that surprised us in a way. So now we know we have to play better. There wasn’t much sideways movement in Durban, but hopefully there will be here. In Durban the visiting spinner always seems to get a five-wicket haul, hopefully that won’t happen here, but the spinner will play a role,” Du Plessis said.

In terms of selection, Vernon Philander has not recovered from the hamstring strain he suffered in the Sri Lankan second innings and Highveld Lions all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, who turned 21 on Tuesday, looks set to come into the team for his Test debut, having played in eight matches for the Proteas in coloured clothing.

“To lose Vernon, who is our best bowler in conditions like this where there is a bit of grass, is a big loss, with his line-and-length bowling he can hold the game still and also take wickets, plus he has scored important runs for us. So we have two options to replace him: To play the extra batsman and then three seamers and a spinner, or give Wiaan his debut, which is probably what we’re leaning towards.

“He’s a like-for-like replacement for Vern, although more of a batting all-rounder. What is nice about him is that he is actually an extra batsman, that’s how we see him, batting at six or seven and being able to give you the extra 10 overs in the field. I see him really featuring moving forward because he’s going to bring a lot of balance to the side,” Du Plessis said.

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