That's it from our coverage of the second and final Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka. This could prove to be a historic win for the Proteas as they go on top of the WTC table with a big chance on making the finals for the very first time.
For Sri Lanka, they have two home games against the reigning World Test Champions Australia starting from 29th January, 2025. The Lankans are on the brink of elimination from the race to the Home of cricket following a series loss to the Proteas.
For South Africa, they host Pakistan in an all format series. The focus for now will be on the two match Test series starting on Boxing Day, 26th December, 2024. The Temba Bavuma-led side need just 1 victory to seal their spot in the WTC Final for the very first time!
For now, Ninaad Dixit, Pritam Dey and Raju Khariya brought you the coverage from the 5th and final day. Time to say goodbye for now. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma collects the series trophy with his teammates joining for a picture. Wonderful leadership and performance from Bavuma throughout the series.
Most five wicket-haul for South Africa in the fourth innings:
5 - Dale Steyn
4 - Hugh Tayfield
4 - Vernon Philander
4 - Kagiso Rabada*
4 - Keshav Maharaj*
Temba Bavuma (South Africa Captain & POTS): "(On personal form) It has been good to be back. Enjoyed the opportunity to be out there with them. Saw a lot of hunger out there. Fortunately, got the opportunity in these Tests, happy to perform.
Durban was quite tricky, first day, conditions overhead. From my side, I wanted to keep the intent of looking to score, not worry too much about technique and how it looks, also encourage the other players to do so.
Yeah, I think this Test, for a lot of guys, is a proper taste of what Test cricket is like. Playing for 5 days is rare these days. Sri Lanka played well, a lot of credit needs to go to them. You look at their line-up, their batting is intimidating. It was a test of character for us.
Yeah, we will take a lot of pride in this. The batters, made it count for the team. We are happy for guy like Rickelton, gets an opportunity and gets a hundred. Same with Marco Jansen, guys putting in match-winning performances. Long may it continue.
(on WTC) The table looks good, we are number one. Still have two games to do. I don't know what the maths look like. We want to enjoy this win and in a few days talk about Pakistan for the next series."
Player of the Series: Temba Bavuma
Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka Captain): "This one was pretty tighter than the last one. Boys fought hard and took the game to the last day but it wasn't good enough to win.
The conditions are very different than Sri Lanka. It was a good challenge. We played better cricket but not good enough to create a result our way. We will get better and better. We have to put our 100% in every department."
Dane Paterson (Player of the Match): "Yeah it feels very good. Basically it is a team M.O.M to be honest. Stubbs, Kyle batted really well. Keshav and KG bowled well too today so it's a M.O.M for the team.
Yeah, I am really happy for the team. We had the belief to do well and we wanted to win both the matches in this Test series.
Well that's the reason why you love this game. I really like to stand up for my team and really happy.
Yeah now it is sinking in to be honest. On Day 3, when I picked up three wickets in an over, I couldn't believe but at the end of the day, I feel really pleased and happy for my team."
Player of the Match: Dane Paterson
3 PM IST & 11:30 AM Local Time| Time for the Post-Match Presentation with Pommie Mbangwa.