- Vishwa Fernando’s first Test five wicket haul brought Sri Lanka right back into the game.
- He cut a swath through South Africa’s tentative middle order.
- Following on from his 2019 tour success, he’s again become a nemesis for South Africa.
By the time this series ends, whenever it ends considering how quickly the second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Wanderers has moved in its six sessions, the hosts will have been sick of the sight of left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando.
He’s certainly not in the Chaminda Vaas excellence group, but in Sri Lanka’s recent South African sojourns, he has become an important facet of Sri Lanka’s hardworking attack.
They’re not yet on the cusp of a famous victory. They still need to bat out of their skins to give South Africa a tricky fourth innings chase, but should it get that far, Sri Lanka will look back warmly on Fernando’s contributions.
In the shock 2019 series win, he took 12 wickets across the two Tests in Durban and Port Elizabeth where on those two rare occasions; Sri Lanka had out-bowled South Africa.
He was called up to kick the door down after Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka prised out Dean Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen respectively after their partnership threatened to take the game away from the visitors.
With his subtle control of swing and seam, he consistently withered down the South African batting unit that reverted to its collapsing mode.
Fernando’s dismissal of Temba Bavuma, who inexplicably shouldered arms to an in-swinger from around the wicket, summed up two things: SA’s frail batting state and indecision.
He may have collected his first test five-for, but there’s a still fair job to do with the bat.
If captain Dimuth Karunaratne is able to drag the team with him on a what will be a pivotal third day on Tuesday, Fernando may still have a say if there’s a defendable target.
That said, Fernando’s economy rate of 4.27 would bring a grimace to any captain, but this is a Test where the run rates have hovered around 3.5 an over or more.
His job has been to take wickets and he hoped that they’ll be able to stick to their simple bowling plans for the rest of the game.
“We had a simple plan. We needed to cut down the runs and build the pressure. That was our plan and we also bowled in good areas. The ball did swing, but we all did a good job,” Fernando said.