Hashim Amla making all the moves as South Africa continue tour of Sri Lanka

So far for South Africa's Dale Steyn, left, and captain Hashim Amla, their tour of Sri Lanka has left them all smiles. Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters

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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