Jayawardene, Sangakkara and the 624 stand
South Africa were bowled out for 169 and made to follow on. Sri Lanka's reply passed their total for the loss of two wickets, and Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara then batted together for almost two full days, putting on 624, the highest partnership in Test history at the time.
South Africa collapse on the first day
South Africa won the toss at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in July 2006 and chose to bat, a decision that went wrong almost immediately against Sri Lanka's seam and spin attack. Andrew Hall was bowled for 17, Herschelle Gibbs was bowled for 19, and Hashim Amla was stumped for 19, three of South Africa's top order dismissed without any of them going on to build a substantial innings. Jacques Rudolph made 29, and only AB de Villiers, with 65, offered real resistance before he too was caught. Dilhara Fernando took 4 for 48 from 13 overs and Muthiah Muralidaran 4 for 41 from 18.2 overs, sharing the wickets between Sri Lanka's seam and spin options, and South Africa were bowled out for 169, a total that would look small within days. Lasith Malinga, bowling his distinctive slinging action, went wicketless from his ten overs but kept the scoring rate down throughout his spell.
Two wickets fall, then nothing does
Sri Lanka lost Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga cheaply, with the score on 6 and then 14, inside the first four overs of the reply, both dismissals coming inside the opening exchanges against South Africa's new-ball attack. From there, nothing else happened for a very long time. Kumar Sangakkara came in at number three, and after Tharanga's wicket he was joined by Mahela Jayawardene, the home captain, batting at four, and the two batted together, without being separated, until the score read 638. In practical terms this meant South Africa bowled at the same two Sri Lankan batters, without success, from the third over of the innings until deep into the third day of the Test.
Jayawardene and Sangakkara bat for two days
The partnership occupied the better part of two playing days. Sangakkara, batting with characteristic patience against the moving ball early and then punishing anything short or full as the surface flattened out, made 287 from 457 balls before he was caught, ending an innings that had contributed 285 runs to the stand. It was, at the time, the highest score by a wicketkeeper in Test cricket, made while Sangakkara was still performing that role for Sri Lanka. Jayawardene went on far longer. He reached 374 from 572 balls before he was finally bowled, an innings that stood, at the time, as the fourth highest individual score in Test history, behind Brian Lara's 400 not out and Matthew Hayden's 380 (both scored within the previous three years) and Lara's earlier 375 from 1994. Jayawardene's innings spanned parts of three days and included periods where he simply defended, waiting for the bowling to tire, alongside spells of fluent stroke play once South Africa's attack had been worn down.
The world record partnership
Between them, Jayawardene and Sangakkara added 624 runs for the third wicket, a mark that broke the previous record for any wicket in Test cricket and remains the highest partnership ever recorded in the format. Against an attack that included Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn, South Africa's bowlers sent down over 100 overs between the fall of the second wicket and the third without managing a breakthrough. Ntini bowled 31 wicketless overs across the innings, and the spinner Nicky Boje was given the heaviest workload of all, sending down 65 overs for figures of 0 for 221, the most expensive analysis by any bowler in the innings and a reflection of how long South Africa's attack had to keep going without a reward.
756 for 5 declared
Tillakaratne Dilshan made 45 before he was out, and Jayawardene himself finally fell soon after, Sri Lanka closing their innings on 756 for 5, one of the highest totals in their Test history though short of their own record 952 for 6 declared against India in 1997, having declined to enforce any further pressure once the record stand had been secured. Dale Steyn, in an attack worn down over three days, finished with 3 for 129 from 26 overs, the most successful of South Africa's bowlers by wickets taken. It was an early Test for Steyn in what would become a career among the finest fast-bowling records in the sport, and this match showed him bowling long, largely fruitless spells against batters who simply would not be dislodged.
South Africa follow on and fall again
Set 587 runs behind, South Africa were made to follow on. Their second innings showed more fight than the first: Jacques Rudolph made 90 from 182 balls, Mark Boucher 85 from 160 balls, and Andrew Hall and Ashwell Prince both passed fifty, Hall making 64 and Prince 61. It was a far more resilient effort than the first innings, stretching the match into a fourth day, but the gap left by the first-innings total was always going to be too large to close. Muthiah Muralidaran took 6 for 131 from 64 overs to finish the match, bowling almost as many overs in the second innings alone as some bowlers manage in a full series, and South Africa were bowled out for 434. Sri Lanka won by an innings and 153 runs, and Mahela Jayawardene, with a triple century and the captaincy of a record-breaking win, was named player of the match.
How long the record lasted
The 624 stand between Jayawardene and Sangakkara remains the highest partnership for any wicket in Test history, and both batters went on to long careers in which this Colombo Test was only one highlight among many. Jayawardene later captained Sri Lanka to a World Twenty20 title in 2014, and Sangakkara retired as one of the most prolific run-scorers the format has seen, and both are remembered among the finest batters their country has produced. The full scorecard from Colombo, including every fall of wicket across four innings, is on this page, and the two teams from that match can be explored on the South Africa and Sri Lanka team pages. In The Follow-On you can bat with either side and see how close you can get to a stand that size.
Sources
- CricArcade Test archive: the full scorecard, fall of wickets and partnerships on this page
- ESPNcricinfo: South Africa in Sri Lanka 2006, first Test scorecard and report
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2007: South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka