After such a long time without a Test series, South Africa have really hit the ground running. Well, their fast bowlers have. The Australia games were certainly entertaining contests but this week's First Test against Sri Lanka turned out to be disappointingly one-sided.
Star batsmen like Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were left looking like rank amateurs when faced by sensible use of pace and seam variation. The latter, however, was run out going for a suicidal run that, had Kallis missed with his throw, would have been his 10,000th in Test cricket. Not for the first time, AB De Villiers was dismissed in the nineties but this time a rash stroke sent him back to the Centurion pavilion on 99.
However, yet again it was a game for fast bowlers. Dale Steyn demonstrated what a master of speed and economy he is, claiming 6-54 in the match, passing 250 Test wickets en route. Nevertheless he was outshone by his teammate Vernon Philander. In only his third Test, the 26 year-old all-rounder claimed his third and fourth five-wicket innings. With 5-53 and 5-49, he went for more than four runs an over, but his patience and ability to find the edge at regular intervals not only earned him the Man of the Match award but also my Player of the Week.
Elsewhere in the world of cricket, Danish Kaneria notched his 1000th first-class wicket of his career and in Ahmedabad two players scored double-centuries. One came from Abhinav Mukund but the other was scored for Gujarat by 21 year-old Manprit Juneja on his first-class debut! Quite an achievement! However, I have stuck with Philander for the performance of the week. He is looking an excellent signing for Somerset for the first part of the 2012 summer.
