RSA VS SL - 1st Test, Sri Lanka tour of South Africa, 2016-17

Stephen Cook, Man of the Match: "It has gone quite well in the last couple of games and you know as a cricketer that you are going to go through some tough times and it does feel good when things keep going your way. I knew I had to make it count in the second innings and am glad that I could do that. Was disappointed to have thrown it away yesterday after I got to my ton. It is always good to have your family around when you are playing and whether it is a good day or a bad day they treat you the same. Taking throwdowns yesterday even after I was dismissed was just a plan of sticking to my routines whether I am batting or not and the guys give me a hard time about it but that is how I am."

Faf: "Sure 2016 has been a good one. We had to toil for this one and right from day one we consistently played some good cricket and put them under pressure right from the start. Pretty much everything went our way, right from winning the toss on a greenish wicket and then the batsmen put up a 100-run start. Would have liked another fifty runs in the first innings. And then we came out and bowled beautifully. Getting a lead of 80 on this wicket was very crucial and the bowlers responded brilliantly after that. The batters just toiled in the second innings and with the ball having got soft it was a challenge but our batsmen stepped up to it. We expected the fightback in the second innings. We also expected a bit of reverse in the final session but it really wasn't quite there with the grass on the wicket and we realized that it is the new ball that is going to talk. Yesterday was a great investment session for us and Keshav has been doing a very good role for us, he held up one end all day long yesterday. The bowlers too held their line and length to perfection. This seam attack of ours has time and again proven that they can do it with three bowlers. The key is not to break down and they have been doing it really well. There is a lot of emphasis on the spinners as well and Keshav has been doing a really good job of late. We are playing some really good cricket. For me it is about being consistent and as a team I think we are firing at 80 perfect of our capacity. We need to step up as a batting unit.The averages in our bowling attack are all around 20-21 and that speaks volumes of their caliber but we need the batsmen to step up."

Angelo Mathews: "Initially I thought we could have batted well and I thought the bowlers did well to restrict them to that total. Batting became easier by the day but we just did not do well in the second innings. We have to shove these issues under the carpet and we have only a two day break in between and have to put these issues behind us before the next Test. It is just a mental thing, we had 14-15 days of preparation and we now need to come back hard."

Things were pretty even after the first day, but one would have to admit, it was the abysmal batting of the Sri Lankan batsmen in the first innings that in the end proved too hard for them to recover fully from. And then they mentally lost it in the third innings when the South African batsmen kept piling on the misery to push them to the point of no return.

Maharaj roars, runs wildly and evades the rest of his team-mates looking to engulf him. The very predictable result and all it took was around 70 minutes to gift wrap the visitors closing things off in some style. Perhaps the best pace attack in the world, the new ball and a bunch of clueless batsmen ensure that all thoughts of a chase turning up on the final day to pose some sort of a fight were nipped right in the bud. If the wickets yesterday were to brain freezes, today was just brilliance. In all honesty, you really cannot pass on what the top order is supposed to do to the lower order and expect it to be done. But South Africa have once again staked their claim to regain the top perch with an all-round performance albeit against a side whose worries away from home are very well documented. And the last five days was just a reassurance.

Maharaj to Pradeep, out Bowled!! A perfect delivery to end the proceedings. Sri Lanka have been wrapped up courtesy a delivery that one is more likely to see in Colombo. Lovely drift to take it on middle and Pradeep plays inside the line in defence but it dips in ever so sharply and gives itself enough opportunity to rip away and deviate enough to go past the edge and rattle the off-timber. A 206-run victory. Pradeep b Maharaj 4(9) [4s-1]

Maharaj to Pradeep, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Maharaj to Pradeep, no run, that has gone where a silly point would've been. Pradeep lunging forward to smother and the ball flying off the splice

Maharaj to Lakmal, 1 run, takes off on the charge and drills it in the air. On the bounce to long-off

Rabada to Pradeep, no run, on the fullish side, squeezed out off the inside edge and you really do not know how that ball avoided the stumps

Rabada to Pradeep, FOUR, another back away and the ball keeps following him. Pradeep does his best to leave it alone but like one of those stalkers this ball takes the faintest of tickles and goes straight behind the stumps. Foxes the keeper as well

Rabada to Pradeep, no run, backs away, typical number eleven like and sticks his bat out to keep the ball out

Rabada to Pradeep, no run, just a hint outside off and catches Pradeep prodding forward. Catches the splice and floats up well short of the men from the cordon converging in

Rabada to Lakmal, 1 run, follows the bumper up with one sliding onto the pads, clipped away and they take the single

Rabada to Lakmal, no run, you have to dig it into a tailender. A pained duck, almost found himself in the line of fire with his late indecision

Maharaj to Lakmal, 1 run, charges down and puts the hammering blade to good use. Off the inside half as it flies down to long-off

Maharaj to Lakmal, no run, on the shorter side, knocked down to mid-wicket

Maharaj to Lakmal, no run, ooh! Perfect angle appearing to come in and foxes Lakmal as the ball turns away ever so slightly to miss the edge. That was close

Maharaj to Lakmal, no run, drifting on leg, turned away with a roll of the wrists

Maharaj to Lakmal, no run, a patient wait in the crease this time but the blocking response remains the same