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Revisiting Kusal Perera’s Legendary Knock That Defied Logic, Time, And South Africa

Soumyajit Dutta

Kusal Perera [Source: @ICC/X.com]Kusal Perera [Source: @ICC/X.com]

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Six years ago today, on February 16, 2019, Kusal Perera scripted a Test innings for the ages, a defiant, undefeated 153 that lifted Sri Lanka to a miraculous one-wicket win over South Africa in Durban. On a pitch where legends faltered, Perera stood tall, turning despair into delirium. Let's glance through the story of the lone warrior and his 200-ball symphony of grit, six years back.

South Africa, armed with Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, and Keshav Maharaj, had reduced Sri Lanka to 226/9 in their chase of 304. Needing 78 more with only No. 11 Vishwa Fernando for company, victory seemed implausible. But Perera, then a mercurial talent often criticized for inconsistency, morphed into a titan. 

Over 95 nerve-shredding minutes, the duo carved a 78-run partnership. Perera hammered 72 off 68, while Fernando survived 27 balls for 6. Numbers barely capture the audacity: Perera’s attacking prowess against Rabada and Steyn under twilight pressure remains the stuff of folklore.

Perera's Masterclass in Solitary Brilliance

Sri Lanka’s chase began disastrously. 52/3, then 110/5 after Dickwella’s golden duck. Kusal Perera, battling the swinging ball, anchored partnerships with Dhananjaya de Silva (48) and Lasith Embuldeniya (4), but hope dwindled at 226/9.

With 78 needed, Perera switched gears. He shredded Rabada’s pace with hooked sixes, danced down to Maharaj’s spin, and pierced gaps with laser precision. Fernando, meanwhile, became the perfect foil, dead-batting 27 deliveries while Perera farmed strike.

The climax came with a boundary off Rabada to seal victory, followed by Perera and the Sri Lanka dugout exclaiming in absolute euphoria.

Perera Etches Name In The History Books

Perera’s Durban epic sits alongside Brian Lara’s 153 and Graeme Smith's 154 as one of Test cricket’s greatest fourth-innings heists. Yet, unlike those knocks, Perera’s came in alien conditions against a fiercer attack. Rabada (3/97), Steyn (2/71), and Philander (1/13) threw everything but Perera’s blade answered every challenge.

Six years on, the Durban miracle remains a beacon of hope, for underdogs, for lost causes, and for the beauty of a lone batter versus a losing cause.