The

South Africa national cricket team The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa (CSA). South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (I ...

toured Sri Lanka for

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches in the 2006 cricket season. South Africa are scheduled to play two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, one warm-up first class game over three days against Sri Lanka A, and at least four

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s as part of a triangular series. Sri Lanka took the Test series 2–0 after winning the final Test by one wicket, their second successive home Test series win against South Africa after their win in 2004. __TOC__

Squads

Tour series

Sri Lanka A v South Africans

Test series

1st Test

2nd Test

Sri Lanka took the final Test by one wicket, in a match "neither side deserved to lose". South Africa opted to bat first, lost openers Gibbs and Hall for ducks, but captain

Ashwell Prince Ashwell Gavin Prince (born 28 May 1977) is a former South African cricketer and captain who played all formats of the game for South Africa. At the age of 29, he became the first non-white man to captain the South African cricket team when he st ...

shared a fifth-wicket stand of 141 with de Villiers, and

Shaun Pollock Shaun Maclean Pollock OIS (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer, who was captain in all formats of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers and allrounders of all time. A genu ...

also made an unbeaten half-century with the tail before

Makhaya Ntini Makhaya Ntini OIS (born 6 July 1977) is a South African former professional cricketer, who played all forms of the game. He was the first black player to play for the South African national cricket team. He reached second place in the ICC Te ...

was caught on the final ball of the first day to close on 361. Ntini then took four top-order wickets in the morning session, his final wicket being that of

Sanath Jayasuriya Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya ( si, සනත් ජයසූරිය, ta, சனத் ஜெயசூர்யா; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a captain. He is credited for having revolutionized one-day in ...

three short of a half-century, and Sri Lanka were 86 for five, needing 275 for the final five wickets to restore parity. However, the sixth wicket stand between

Chamara Kapugedera Chamara Kantha Kapugedera ( si, චාමර කපුගෙදර, born 24 February 1987), commonly Chamara Kapugedera, is a former international Sri Lankan cricketer who played all formats of the game, and was a former One Day International ca ...

and

Prasanna Jayawardene Hewasandatchige Asiri Prasanna Wishvanath Jayawardene ( Sinhala: හේවාසන්දච්චිගේ ආසිරි ප්‍රසන්න විශ්වනාත් ජයවර්ධන) (born 10 September 1979), commonl ...

yielded 105 runs before both were bowled in successive over, and

Farveez Maharoof Mohamed Farveez Maharoof ( ta, பர்வீஸ் மஹூஹ்ஃப், si, ෆර්වීස් මහරූෆ්: born 7 September 1984), or Farveez Maharoof, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who played in Tests and ODIs. He ...

and

Chaminda Vaas Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas (born 27 January 1974) is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer, who played all forms of the game, and a former ODI captain who is often described as the greatest fast medium bowl ...

then batted out 37 overs to add 117. Steyn then rounded off the tail, claiming his first Test five-for in 13.1 overs, and Sri Lanka were bowled out 40 short. On the third day, Gibbs made a four-hour 92, as Muralitharan and Kapugedera stood for most of the wickets; Kapugedera had

Jacques Rudolph Jacobus Andries "Jacques" Rudolph (born 4 May 1981) is a former South African cricketer who played for Glamorgan and in South Africa with Titans. He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, a popular and renowned public school located in Pretoria. ...

and

Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who played for South Africa in all three formats of the game. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 ...

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, governed by Law 38 of the Laws of Cricket. A run out usually occurs when the batsmen are attempting to run between the wickets, and the fielding team succeed in getting the ball to one wicket befo ...

, while Muralitharan got credited with seven wickets while bowling. The final wicket was that of

Andrew Hall Andrew James Hall (born 31 July 1975) is a former South African first-class cricketer who played from 1999 until 2011. He played as an all-rounder who bowled fast-medium pace and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. ...

, the first of the innings, who was caught behind off

with the score on 76.

Mark Boucher Mark Verdon Boucher (born 3 December 1976) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Boucher is regarded as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen of all time, and holds the record for the ...

hit 65 with the tail before he was last out, setting Sri Lanka 352 to win in five sessions. South Africa got an immediate breakthrough, with opener

Upul Tharanga Warushavithana Upul Tharanga (born 2 February 1985), commonly known as Upul Tharanga ( si, උපුල් තරංග), is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, and a former limited over captain who played for all formats of the game. He ...

caught off Ntini for 0 in the third over. However, that was to be Ntini's only wicket; in his eighth over, he limped off with a hamstring injury, never to return. South Africa were left with four main bowlers, and as Steyn could not find his first innings effectiveness, and

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene ( si, දෙනගමගේ ප්‍රබෝත් මහේල ද සිල්වා ජයවර්ධන; born 27 May 1977) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who is the current consultant coach ...

stood up with a six-hour 123, Sri Lanka managed the chase. At lunch on day five, they needed 19 with four wickets in hand, but Jayawardene was caught by Gibbs in the eighth over after lunch, with 11 still needed.

then claimed the wickets of Vaas and Muralitharan in the same over, but also conceded two runs. Maharoof hit Boje for a single, and

Lasith Malinga Separamadu Lasith Malinga ( si, සෙපරමාදු ලසිත් මාලිංග; born 28 August 1983), nicknamed "Slinga Malinga", is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest limited overs bowlers ...

could hit the winning run on the only ball he faced in the innings.

Withdrawal from Unitech Cup

Originally, South Africa was set to play Sri Lanka and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the tri-nation Unitech Cup one-day cricket tournament. Following a series of bomb blasts in the Sri Lankan capital, relating to the renewal of

terrorist activity Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

plaguing that country, Cricket South Africa employed an independent security consultant to determine the risk posed to players. The risk to the team was determined to be "unacceptable" and South Africa's involvement in the tour came to a premature end.South Africa to fly home
Cricinfo, 16 August 2006 Following South Africa's withdrawal, Sri Lanka and India were scheduled to play a One-day International series, but this was rained off.

References

{{International cricket tours of Sri Lanka 2006 in South African cricket 2006 in Sri Lankan cricket International cricket competitions in 2006 Sri Lankan cricket seasons from 2000–01

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...