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Amla lauds Proteas for great character in Colombo draw
South Africa captain Hashim Amla has revealed the last match of the two-Test series against that ended in Colombo on Monday stretched the team’s mental and physical abilities to the limits.
Amla praised his team for showing great character to stand up to the challenge on the final day of the Test which ended in a draw.
South Africa were set a stiff target of 369 to win in 128 overs on a wearing pitch where the Sri Lankan spinners held sway.
A rain interruption curtailed the overs to 111 but the South Africans hung on to draw the contest scoring 159-8.
Amla said: “We knew that to win a series here, there would be certain times when we would reach our breaking point and we almost did. But there is resilience. We are a South African team who are very proud and passionate. We always want to go down fighting.”
“You may not win the game but the character you show is the most important thing.
“When you looked at this Test, it was almost a mirror image of the first Test but the roles were reversed. To win a Test match you’re always on the upper hand. You don’t have the pressure of wickets falling maybe but having stuck out a draw, it has a lot more character building because of the way everybody applied themselves.
“There was definitely nerves, tension, biting of fingernails in the changeroom. It was emotionally draining,” he added.
South Africa had won the first Test by 153 runs to gain a 1-0 lead and the drawn duel sealed their first series victory in 21 years in Sri Lanka. There was double delight as the victory saw they overtake Australia and become the World No1- ranked Test team again after three months.
South Africa will now be heading for a one-off Test against Zimbabwe starting at the Harare Sports Club on August 9.
The squad that did duty in Sri Lanka has been retained with convener of selectors Andrew Hudson saying in a statement yestertay that the players had “earned a vote of confidence” following their success in the island nation.
