The ambition and ultimate satisfaction of every talented fast bowler is to pick-up a five-wicket haul in a Test match against any opposition.To achieve that task while performing away from home under tremendous pressure against a formidable batting line-up is even more outstanding.
This is exactly what Sri Lanka’s Vishwa Fernando performed on day two of the second Test match against South Africa at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Monday.
The 29-year-old lanky left-arm fast bowler produced his best performance in his brief Test career and returned excellent figures of five wickets for 101 runs during a marathon spell of 23.4 overs.
No other Sri Lankan bowler has ever captured five wickets in an innings at The Wanderers Therefore, Fernando can really be satisfied with this effort.
The previous best bowling performance by a Sri Lankan at The Wanderers Stadium was recorded by another fast bowler, Nuwan Pradeep, who returned figures of four wickets for 78 in the first innings in the third Test of the series in 2017. In the same innings, Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Kumara also took a four-wicket haul but conceded 107 runs as the South Africans piled up a massive 426 and went on to complete an innings and 118-run victory in the end.
Most of the Sri Lankan bowlers have always struggled at The Wanderers Stadium and even former legendary players of the calibre of left-armer, Chaminda Vaas and off-spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan have not claimed more than three wickets in an innings.
In this context, Fernando’s performance in the second Test could be considered one of the best by a Sri Lankan bowler in South Africa even through, the outcome of the match may not go in favour of the islanders.
Fernando of course, went into this Test match at the backdrop of some uncertainty, following a pretty ordinary performance in the first Test at Centurion, where the Lankans suffered an innings and 45-run defeat, well inside four days.
The former schoolboy of St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa had an added responsibility as the main strike bowler after the more experienced Suranga Lakmal was ruled out from this Test once again with a groin injury.
But Fernando knew exactly what was required from him at this moment and rose to the occasion to deliver the desired results and contain the opposition to a great extent.
The South Africans were cruising along towards a massive score of exceeding 400 runs after the Sri Lankans were bundled out for a paltry 157 in the first innings.
However, Fernando made life difficult for the more experienced South African batting line-up and was eventually, rewarded for his perseverance, which would be a huge morale booster for his career
Fernando made his First-Class debut for Bloomfield in 2012 and showed a glimpse of his talent and potential while finishing with 26 wickets during his maiden Inter-Club season.
He continued with his success and went on to emerge as one of the most destructive fast bowlers during the 2014/15 SLC Premier League Tournament where he claimed over 40 wickets at a splendid average of 21.97.
Thereafter, he made his Test debut in 2016 against Australia at the Galle Stadium but his performances were restricted to just a couple of overs as the spin duo of Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera shared the bulk of the bowling.
But his first real challenge came when he was selected to play in the third Test against India at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy, where he delivered a marathon spell of 26 overs against a batting line-up which included Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, K. L. Rahul and Hardik Pandya.
Despite many setbacks, Fernando never gave up hopes and he finally came in to the limelight by claiming back-to-back four-wicket hauls against South Africa at Durban.
