COLOMBO // An upbeat South Africa look to carry forward their winning momentum in the second Test against Sri Lanka beginning Thursday and break a 21-year-old jinx on the island.
The Proteas, the current world No 2, have not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 1993, when they first toured the country and beat the hosts 1-0.
On their next three tours, they won one Test while losing two series and drawing another.
A new dawn seems to be beckoning for the visitors after they won the first Test at Galle on Sunday by 153 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series, handing Hashim Amla a winning start to his captaincy.
“Not many teams have come here and won a Test series, so it’s obviously on the back of our minds,” said Amla, the first non-white player to lead South Africa in a full-time capacity.
Amla, 31, was named captain last month following the retirement of Graeme Smith, who led the Proteas in a record 109 Tests.
Amla's leadership was unconventional and daring, as evidenced in the way he declared the innings at tea on the fourth day rather than taking the safer option of batting out the last session.
It meant the hosts needed to score 370 runs in four sessions to win the match.
At one point, it appeared the game was slipping away from South Africa, but fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel ripped through the top order on the fifth morning to ensure a well-deserved win.
Steyn will again be crucial at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club ground, where South Africa won by an innings and 208 runs in 1993, thanks to fast bowlers Allan Donald and Brett Schultz.
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews conceded that Steyn would be a big factor at Colombo.
“Steyn is an unbelievable bowler – any captain would love to have a guy like him in his side,” he said.
“On that flat wicket [at Galle], he came out really hard and bowled fast. Not too many fast bowlers end up with nine-wicket hauls at Galle.”
The other concern for Mathews, apart from Steyn, was a middle order that has failed to click, even in the preceding one-dayers that South Africa won 2-1, their first ODI series win in Sri Lanka.
“Right from the ODI series, our middle-order batting has not been delivering,” the Sri Lankan captain said.
“We have seven batters in the side, and to expect only one player to deliver all the time is wrong.”
On that front, Mahela Jayawardene has scored 10 hundreds at Colombo, the most by any batsman at a single venue.
Jayawardene, 37, is due to retire next month after a two-Test series at home against Pakistan.
A victory at Colombo means Amla’s men would reclaim the No 1 ranking they lost to Australia recently after spending two years at the top.
The last time South Africa played a Test series in Sri Lanka, in 2006, they lost 2-0, but only three players from that tour are part of the current side.
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
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Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
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Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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Company%20Profile
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
If you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals. A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com. Good guidebooks include the Lonely Planet guides to Northern California and Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest.
T20 SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic