Amla has chance to banish bad memories

Remember the time Sri Lanka beat South Africa in a Test at home ? Of the current home squad only Hashim Amla really does.

Amla is the only surviving member from the XI who were defeated in Durban five years ago, a time when his reputation was already established. But he is also the only South African batsmen who did not score a half-century on their most recent assignment in Australia. How times have changed.

For Sri Lanka too. They have only brought three of the victors from that series. One of them, Angelo Matthews, is now the captain; another Dinesh Chandimal, who debuted at Kingsmead with twin fifties, has added 30 Test caps to his name and averages almost 45. The third, Rangana Herath, is their constant.

Like their hosts, Sri Lanka have gone through a transition and are still trying to find solid ground as they move on from the retirements of some of their greats. A tour of South Africa – where that Durban Test provided their only win in 10 attempts – may not be the best place to find it. Conversely, for South Africa, it is exactly the series to stabilise.

To call South Africa an evolving team has become as hackneyed as calling Pakistan mercurial or West Indies in decline. Every team has stalwarts; every team goes through change. Perhaps not every team lingers on it for as long as South Africa have done.

Their high-profile retirements, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith, came three summers ago but it barely seems that long. The uncertainty in the leadership role may have had an unsettling effect, but now that they have settled on a leader in Faf du Plessis, South Africa can properly confront the present – a present that has forced them to contemplate life without another set of superstars.

With AB de Villiers, …

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