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SL’s last-wicket stand of 78 to chase down 304, or an 18-year-old’s heroics? Which Test was better? Vote now!

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2025Update: This poll has ended. The SA-SL 2019 Durban Test moves to the round of 16.The Perera miracle in Durban, 2019
Sri Lanka were enduring a tough time heading into this series. They were coming off a 2-0 pummeling in Australia, their captain had been sacked, and an inexperienced team, led by Dimuth Karunaratne, was put on the plane to South Africa. The perfect lead-up to a heroic comeback story?In what was a seesawing Test in Durban, Sri Lanka emerged victorious, chasing down 304 with one wicket to spare. They had lost their ninth wicket while still 78 runs off their target. Kusal Perera then scored 67 of them all by himself. Perera gave Sri Lanka an incredible finale on the fourth afternoon along with the No. 11 Vishwa Fernando, as they put on a record-breaking tenth-wicket stand to see their team home in a tense finish.At lunch on the day, Sri Lanka were 166 for 5, still 138 runs away from a win, after which Keshav Maharaj scythed through the Sri Lankan lower-middle order, leaving them at 226 for 9. That brought Fernando to the middle, and from the moment he got there, he was entirely focused on survival. He faced 22 balls before he got off the mark.It looked like victory was assured for South Africa, but as Fernando clung on at one end, Perera defended with unreal calm and even took several blows to his body on his way to the target. Batting for 309 minutes, he farmed the strike superbly, and picked his opportunities to attack and push the score forward. Along the way, he also made his career-best Test score of 153, sealing the famous win with a boundary.Debutant Cummins’ heroics in Johannesburg, 2011Trust Pat Cummins to do something heroic. But to do such a thing on his Test debut? As an 18-year-old?Australia had a lot to prove entering this Test. They had been bowled out for 47 in the first Test of the series in Cape Town, their lowest total in 109 years. They had lost that match before lunch on the third day.In seaming conditions at the Wanderers, Australia took a 30-run lead in reply to South Africa’s 266. Having been brought in as Ryan Harris’ replacement for the second Test in Johannesburg, Cummins came to Australia’s rescue in the second innings as he outbowled his more senior colleagues.He gave Australia a fighting chance of victory in a match that, 24 hours earlier, appeared to have slipped from their grasp after superb batting from Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. Cummins was responsible for breaking the Amla-de Villiers stand, as he went on to bag six wickets to set up a target of 310 runs for his team.Openers Shane Watson and Phil Hughes failed to repeat their first-innings displays. They were both out to Vernon Philander as Australia were 19 for 2, but Ricky Ponting and Usman Khawaja brought down the home side’s advantage. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn’s strikes, though, left Australia six down with another 95 runs to get.Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson then forged a partnership of 72 to erase the bulk of the deficit, but with his team eight down with 12 runs required, it was Cummins who kept his calm and scored two boundaries in the 15 balls he faced to seal the close win for Australia. It was the highest fourth-innings total at the Wanderers.

It has been reported how much Premier League suitors have to pay to trigger Antoine Semenyo's release clause ahead of the January transfer window. Semenyo is a wanted man by a number of the division's big hitters, with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United among those keen on the Bournemouth star. The Ghanaian was linked with a recent summer move away from the south coast but penned a five-year deal with the Cherries.

• Bournemouth keen to keep Semenyo until the summer

  However, Bournemouth expect Semenyo to leave the club in the New Year as the Cherries reluctantly accept that they may be powerless to prevent the 25-year-old from leaving the club in the January transfer window. Semenyo has made a flying start to the season under Andoni Iraola having scored six goals and provided an additional three assists for Bournemouth.

  The south coast side are keen to retain their star man's services until the end of the season as they look to build upon a fine start to the campaign. Indeed, Bournemouth are currently ninth in the table following back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Aston Villa but level on 18 points with Tottenham, Villa, Manchester United and Liverpool from fifth down to eighth.

  Semenyo has been central to that solid start to the campaign even if he has failed to directly contribute to a goal in his last four league outings, which includes a penalty miss in a 4-0 loss at Villa last weekend.

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  Spurs, Utd & Liverpool keen on January Semenyo move

  Semenyo had his suitors over the summer, with Tottenham and Manchester United previously keen on the forward. However, both teams opted to pursue alternative targets, with Spurs signing Mohammed Kudus from West Ham, while United acquired Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo from Wolves and Brentford, respectively.

  Spurs and United have again been linked with a move for Semenyo, while Liverpool have been credited with an interest in the Bournemouth star. A report this week suggested that Liverpool have sounded out a January move for Semenyo as they look to revive their stuttering title defence.

  The Reds will also lose Mohamed Salah for the Africa Cup of Nations from mid-December, and they could be without the Egypt international for up to eight matches, which would include games at north London duo Spurs and Arsenal. While Salah has struggled to match last season's expectations, scoring just four goals and providing two assists in the Premier League this season, the Reds are wary about being caught short over the hectic winter period.

  Adam Wharton has also emerged as another potential target for Liverpool as the Premier League champions weigh up a move for the Crystal Palace youngster in a bid to shore up their midfield.

• Interested parties learn of release clause

  Prior to Semenyo's decision to sign a new deal at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth had set a £70 million ($92m)  asking price on the forward in a bid to ward off interest. However, in penning a five-year contract with Bournemouth, The Athletic writes that Semenyo now has a release clause of £65m ($86m).

  Liverpool broke their transfer record over the summer to sign Alexander Isak, while Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike also made the move to Anfield for hefty fees. Spurs and United, meanwhile, both also spent big in the off-season, and it would take a significant outlay for the Premier League pair to land Semenyo.

  However, the release clause must be activated by a set date in January in order to allow Bournemouth to acquire a replacement for Semenyo, but is available to any team. What's more, while the clause stands at £65m in January, interested parties will be able to activate it at a lower price in the summer.

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  Semenyo on Ghana duty before returning to domestic action

  Semenyo was part of the Ghana side that started a 2-0 loss to Japan in a friendly on Friday and is expected to feature from the outset against South Korea on Tuesday.

  Bournemouth and Semenyo then return to domestic duties with the welcome of West Ham on Saturday afternoon. The Hammers have won back-to-back league matches at the expense of Newcastle and Burnley following a rocky start to the season.

  The Cherries round off the month with a trip to high-flying Sunderland as Iraola looks to mastermind a return to winning ways following a downturn in form.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have “spoken” to representatives of Erik ten Hag regarding their vacant managerial role and his stance on the position has now been made clear.

After 10 games in the Premier League this season, Wolves have acquired two points from an available 30. Without a win in those matches, Vitor Pereira was sacked following a 3-0 loss to Fulham, despite the Portuguese having signed a new contract just weeks earlier.

Wolves will, no doubt, hope to make a swift appointment to replace Pereira. The Old Gold have an interim manager in place for their game against Chelsea in the shape of James Collins, as they consider a wide range of options who could succeed Pereira.

Middlesbrough head coach Rob Edwards appears to be the top target for Wolves, even though Boro are reluctant to let Edwards, who only joined in the summer, depart for Molineux, where he has spent time as both a coach and player.

According to Football Insider, however, the club are seemingly interested in bringing one particular manager back to the Premier League.

Erik ten Hag open to Wolves role

Recent reports have indicated that not only have Wolves spoken with ten Hag’s representatives, but that the Dutchman would be “interested in speaking to Wolves about the job”.

No stranger to the Premier League, ten Hag moved from Ajax to Manchester United in 2022. Across the following two years, he won an EFL Cup and FA Cup, but struggled to enjoy much consistent success in both domestic and European football.

Sacked in 2024, ten Hag spent almost a year without a job until being hired by Bayer Leverkusen to replace Xabi Alonso in the summer of 2025. After taking charge of just three matches for the German side, however, ten Hag was sacked and remains a free agent.

Though recent seasons have not been the kindest for ten Hag, he remains a well-thought of coach. Thierry Henry, as per Manchester Evening News, has spoken positively of the Dutchman in the past.

The next Wolves manager must have a quick start at Molineux, due to the club’s current predicament in the league. As somebody who is “firmly in the running,” ten Hag would certainly be a bold appointment, given the misfortunes he suffered both at the end of his tenure at Man United and with Leverkusen.

"One of the best men" in football considered by Wolves

There was chaos after Shanaka was initially given out caught behind, then found short of his crease, but given not out for both

Shashank Kishore27-Sep-2025Why was Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka ruled not out even though he was run-out by Sanju Samson off the fourth ball of the Super Over against India in the Asia Cup game on Friday?For a while, confusion reigned when Shanaka ventured out of his crease after missing a yorker from Arshdeep Singh, who went up in an appeal for a caught behind, while Samson threw the ball at the stumps to find the batter short. But the umpire had given Shanaka out caught behind after a bit of contemplation, and Shanaka referred the decision upstairs to the third umpire Masudur Rahman. After replays confirmed there was no bat involved, Shanaka was ruled not out for the caught behind and for the run out too. It was the timing of the umpire signalling out initially for the caught behind – after Samson’s direct hit – that led to the confusion.MCC’s law states that “the ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal”. In this case, that incident was the caught-behind appeal, which meant the ball had been dead when Samson tried to run Shanaka out. With replays proving Shanaka didn’t nick the ball, he was immediately deemed not out, even though India captain Suryakumar Yadav seemed to enquire with the umpires about the decision.Related

• 'This team can go very far' – Jayasuriya 'fairly satisfied' with Sri Lanka's Asia Cup

• Arshdeep's masterclass helps India pull off heist

“According to the rules, if you appeal for the catch, then Dasun could go up to the third umpire,” coach Sanath Jayasuriya said of what he made of the appeal. “It was the first decision that counts always, not the second. So he went for the referral, and it was not out. That’s what happened. But overall, I think there are a few grey areas [in terms of the rules at large] that they [officials] have to finetune a bit.”However, Shanaka was out next ball when he sliced one to deep third as Sri Lanka lost both their wickets five balls into the Super Over to set India just three runs to go into the final unbeaten. Suryakumar then thumped Wanindu Hasaranga first ball through the covers to seal India’s victory.