New captain, new opener, new challenge – no problem. That was the case for South Africa when they toured to Sri Lanka earlier this year. The Proteas had not won a series in Sri Lanka since 1993, and after having had the number one ranking ripped from underneath them, without even lifting a bat, South Africa had a tough challenge ahead.

The first Test courted controversy, with Vernon Philander caught up in a ball-tampering hullabaloo. While that won’t be noted in the scorebook, for many fans this will forever be a dark blotch on the Test.

Still, scoring 455 in the first innings took some doing, especially the hundreds from Dean Elgar and JP Duminy. Faf du Plessis and rookie Quinton de Kock also added to the tally, and by the time the bowlers were let loose, the pressure was on. South Africa’s second innings saw a declaration from captain Hashim Amla, which completely challenged convention. The visitors won by 153 runs, and were en route to a memorable series win.

That win set South Africa up with an unassailable lead. Whatever happened, they could not lose the series, and for Russell Domingo, it was one of the best team performances he’d seen in quite some time.

“We’ve played some good cricket in all formats this year, but the Test series in Sri Lanka is definitely up there as one of the highlights of the year. The first Test match in Galle was probably one of the best performances by the team for quite a while,” Domingo told The Daily Maverick.

Having been displaced as the number one Test team by Australia, after a rejig of the ranking points, South Africa needed to win the series in order to regain the ranking – and Domingo thinks that the desire to stay at the top added some extra motivation.

“When you are the number one side in the world, you want to try to hold onto that for as long as possible. Losing it, we always wanted to get back to it. That adds a bit to the motivation. If we had gone there as the number one side, perhaps we would not have been as desperate to get a win as we were. As the number one side you can sometimes relax a little bit and almost expect things to go in your favour,” the coach said.

South Africa’s batting wasn’t quite as convincing in the second Test and only Hashim Amla managed more than a half century in both innings, but it was the lower order which really impressed during the match in Colombo.

With the light fading and Sri Lanka’s spinners probing, South Africa were eight wickets down and needed a special performance in order to cling on. They got it, too, in more ways than one. Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir combined for a lower order guard, with Philander spending almost two hours at the crease. Tahir, not exactly known for his batting prowess, took the less conventional route and resorted to “cramping” in order to waste time. The crowed later booed the South Africans and while it was far from sportsmanlike, it took quite something for Tahir to survive as long as he did. Many poked fun at his efforts, but when he walked back into the dressing room, there was no focus on his acting performance.

“To be honest, we didn’t say much about his performance; we were more focused on how well he batted to survive the situation. It was a hell of a performance by him and Vernon in that last hour. It was very tough – we didn’t really speak about the cramps, we were just focused on managing to win,” Domingo recalls.

Since taking over from Gary Kirsten last year, Domingo has notched up some impressive achievements. While the series loss to Australia earlier this year was a blotch on the record, he made up for it in Sri Lanka. However, the coach is quick to quell praise heaped upon him. The credit, he insists, should go to the team.

“I don’t think it’s one of my greatest achievements; I think it’s one of the team’s greatest achievements. It’s a wonderful place to tour, but very tough, as Sri Lanka is very tough to beat in their own conditions. It was a satisfying victory for the team,” Domingo said.

South Africa’s cricketing year is not yet over. They still have two Tests against the West Indies before the clock ticks over to 2015. However, it’s unlikely that anything will top winning in a country where they had not managed a victory in over 20 years. DM

Photo: South Africa’s cricket team members pose with the trophy after winning the test cricket series against Sri Lanka in Colombo July 28, 2014. South Africa drew the second test against Sri Lanka to win the two-match series 1-0. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte