Though thrilled with their first series win in South Africa, in any format, Sri Lanka sense they could have enjoyed even more success in the shortest format had wet weather not thwarted them in the opening encounter.
"We could have won the series 3-0. It was in our hands in the first T20 but we lost it unfortunately," Niroshan Dickwella, the man of the series, said afterwards. "In the other two matches we were cool and calm, we held our nerve and we played well. That was the main reason we won the other two games. The first one was a ten-over match because of the rain but I think we could have won the series 3-0."
Sri Lanka were beaten by 19 runs in a shortened match on Friday but came back to win by three wickets and five wickets in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where they showed their ability to pull off a chase. At the Wanderers, they left it to the last over to hunt down a below-par score of 114 but, at Newlands, they were more assured in pulling off their second-highest successful chase. The incremental improvements, especially in the batting line-up, have been a major factor in their adjustment to the conditions, albeit those conditions have changed in that they offer less of an examination in the shorter formats.
"The wickets are better. In the Test series, the wickets were quite greenish and the ball swings a lot. In the T20 series, they prepared better wickets for the batting team. The better batting team wins hopefully," Dickwella said. "In this series, the three wickets were pretty much batting wickets so that's why it's easier for us now."
Sri Lanka still need to confront their weaknesses against the moving ball on spicy surfaces, but that is an issue for another day. For now, they are looking forward to more batsmen-friendly conditions in the ODIs, which they will enter with a sense of self-belief. "It's a great confidence booster. Winning against a big team like South Africa is big. The whole team is backing up our strengths now. We are going to play well in the one-day series as well," Dickwella said.
Some of the strategies that Sri Lanka will focus on in the next two days range from how to tackle the mid-section of a 50-over game to how to cope without their regular captain, Angelo Mathews, who is out of the rest of the tour. Upul Tharanga, who partnered Dickwella at the top in this match, will take over and Dickwella is confident the team will respond well to his leadership.
"It's a big loss for us to have to play without our captain but we have done well without him so far," Dickwella said. "We will discuss how to handle the middle overs after the Powerplay in one-day games and also the bowling. Bowlers will be bowling good length balls, rather than trying different things like in a T20. We are looking forward to the one-day series."