'We never expected to do it' – Karunaratne exults in historic win

Kusal Mendis and Oshada Fernando carried Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory in the second Test at Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 23 February, to wrap up a 2-0 series win. It was the first for any Asian side in South Africa.

Sri Lanka had been to the country for five Test tours before this one, and had only won one match in all that time. They came to this tour with their prospects looking especially grim, having lost at home to England, and away against New Zealand and Australia. The visitors rode on Kusal Perera's magnificent 153* to clinch a stunning one-wicket win in Durban, and then came from behind again to win in Port Elizabeth, where they fell behind South Africa by 68 runs in the first innings.

Karunatatne was thrilled at the turnaround – although he admitted himself that it was "unexpected".

"Beating South Africa 2-0 isn't easy," the captain said. "We were underdogs. But we learnt a lot of things on previous tours, and the players executed really well in these conditions ... It's a great achievement for us.

"I think we never expected to do it. But when we started winning, we had the faith. We wanted to compete. Winning is the ultimate goal, but if we do the right things, the result will definitely be good for us. Most of the guys said that, but we didn't take that seriously, because when we have additional pressure, it's not easy."

As it turned out, Sri Lanka thrived under that pressure. Suranga Lakmal picked up four wickets to help skittle South Africa out for 128 in the second innings, before Mendis and Fernando shared an unbeaten 163-run stand to make short work of the 197-run target.

"We said when you go out there, you play your natural game. If you can score, if you can hit over the fielder, go for it. That's what Mendis and Oshada did in the first hour. When we played like that, South Africa were on the back foot," Karunaratne explained.

The captain credited the team management for the positivity and culture on away tours. "We had a few discussions - what I expect, what the management expects, and after that, we kept hanging together, we ate dinner together, we were together," he said.

"When we came here, no one thought we can win a series. But if we back ourselves, we can win those matches. We wanted to do something good for the team, for the Sri Lankan fans. End of the day, we did a really good job."