Sri Lanka in South Africa, 2011-12

Test matches (3): South Africa 2, Sri Lanka 1
One-day internationals (5): South Africa 3, Sri Lanka 2

One short: Mahela Jayawardene narrowly fails to complete his 10,000th Test run at Centurion, but after a difficult series found himself captain once more. © Getty Images Enlarge

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The last time Sri Lanka toured South Africa, Gary Kirsten was a member of the playing XI, Twenty20 was not a recognised form of the game, even at domestic level, and Dilhara Fernando could fit into a regular sized shirt.

Now they returned, after an absence of nine years, bringing with them an air of unpredictability. They touched down in Johannesburg desperate to put behind them an eight-month period in which they stumbled through three Test series defeats on the back of reaching the World Cup final - and lost Muttiah Muralitharan, the most talismanic cricketer in their history. It was also eight months in which the squad had not been paid by a board steeped in debt. After expenses of $32.5m were spent on the World Cup - including the financing of new stadiums - Sri Lanka Cricket were waiting on money from the ICC before they could remunerate their cricketers.

Prior to the tour, South Africa's two captains, Graeme Smith and A. B. de Villiers, publicly supported their Sri Lankan counterparts. Smith called the impasse "far from ideal", while de Villiers said it was "a credit to them that they've kept playing". On arrival, Tillekeratne Dilshan thanked the pair but insisted his team's sole focus was on cricket, regardless of whether they had the money.

He was right: Sri Lanka did have other things to worry about. Their batting, while formidable on paper and in friendly conditions, had been struggling, with Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene in a lean patch. On surfaces that favoured seam bowling, they did not have an express quick in their ranks, and the most promising of the lot, the injury-prone Nuwan Pradeep Fernando, had to return home after tearing a hamstring ten balls into the opening tour match. Add to that a ban on talking to the media outside scheduled press conferences and the general mood was not convivial.

South Africa stuck to their home recipe for subcontinental teams and cooked up a Centurion pitch as green as basil pesto for the First Test. Over in three days, it showed Sri Lanka how much work they would have to do to compete, and they trained for over five hours each on what should have been the last two days. Soon after, the players received 46% of their outstanding fees from the World Cup, paid for by the ICC. As if re-energised, they pulled off a historic win at Durban, only Sri Lanka's sixth outside Asia or Zimbabwe. Two brave selections were instrumental: Thilan Samaraweera's century came after time out of the side and a late call-up to the tour, while Dinesh Chandimal made two fifties on debut, as replacement wicketkeeper for the struggling Kaushal Silva.

The victory at Kingsmead gave Sri Lanka genuine belief they could win the series, in Cape Town. Going in to the last Test, South Africa faced the prospect of failing to win a home series for the fifth time in three years. This time, they did not falter. Their first home trophy since beating Bangladesh in late 2008 was reward for a patient public, and helped put a positive spin on the image of a sport which had suffered at the hands of administrators.

South Africa played the entire series in the shadow of the 18-month bonus scandal, which showed no signs of abating. The Nicholson Commission, a ministerial inquiry into the alleged unofficial payments made to Gerald Majola and 39 other Cricket South Africa staff employees, heard its most damning testimony while the cricket continued. CSA were able to secure only one sponsor for the series - cooking oil manufacturer Sunfoil - which meant the cricket had a lower profile than normal. The boundary was, for the first time in many seasons, an actual rope, rather than an excuse for yet more advertising.

At least the cricket was a good advertisement for the country's talent. New quick Marchant de Lange emerged while Vernon Philander was confirmed as one of the most skilful bowlers in the world, certainly on responsive wickets. While the series launched some careers, it may have ended others: Ashwell Prince's twin failures in Durban looked likely to be his last innings in international cricket.

In the one-dayers, South Africa struggled without their stalwarts: Hashim Amla (on paternity leave), Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn (both rested) missed the latter part of the series, when South Africa lost two matches. Sri Lanka rued the rain in Bloemfontein, without which the series might have swung their way. They improved in each game - admittedly from a small starting point, after their embarrassing collapse for 43 in the first at Paarl - and ended the tour with two successful chases of 300 or more. The match-swinging efforts of their younger players Chandimal, Tissara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne at least gave Dilshan some consolation in defeat.

Dilshan's head was on the chopping block throughout the tour, but he maintained a carefree demeanour irrespective of the results. When Sri Lanka crashed in Paarl, the first thing he did at the press conference was ask a local reporter who had a bandaged knee how he'd picked up the injury. "Never mind that, what happened to you?" the journalist bit back. Dilshan shrugged, grinned and said: "We lost."

Even so he insisted ahead of the last one-dayer that he was enjoying the captaincy and would like to continue. But he was at the mercy of events beyond his control: SLC had just announced a new selection panel headed by Ashantha de Mel. The day after the tour ended - with victory at the Wanderers - Dilshan resigned. Forty-eight hours later it was confirmed that coach Geoff Marsh had been sacked, only four months into the job. Jayawardene was reappointed captain (for no longer than a year, he insisted), and South African Graham Ford took over as coach.

Match reports for

Tour Match: South African Invitation XI v Sri Lankans at Benoni, Dec 9-11, 2011
Scorecard

1st Test: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Centurion, Dec 15-17, 2011
Report | Scorecard

2nd Test: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Durban, Dec 26-29, 2011
Report | Scorecard

3rd Test: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Cape Town, Jan 3-6, 2012
Report | Scorecard

Tour Match: Emerging Cape Cobras v Sri Lankans at Brackenfell, Jan 9, 2012
Scorecard

1st ODI: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Paarl, Jan 11, 2012
Report | Scorecard

2nd ODI: South Africa v Sri Lanka at East London, Jan 14, 2012
Report | Scorecard

3rd ODI: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Bloemfontein, Jan 17, 2012
Report | Scorecard

4th ODI: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Kimberley, Jan 20, 2012
Report | Scorecard

5th ODI: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg, Jan 22, 2012
Report | Scorecard