How will Kusal Perera follow that one up? How will Sri Lanka? After three gruelling months on the road and three consecutive Test series defeats, Perera's brilliance has finally brought some joy to his team in a Test match that none who witnessed will ever forget.

The Kingsmead miracle has put Sri Lanka in a truly rarefied position: only once before have they ever won a Test on South African soil, and on five previous visits they've never come close to winning a Test series here. With a 1-0 lead, even a draw at St George's Park will make history for them.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Perera's 153* was a superlative effort, but it had to be, because Sri Lanka had spent the previous three days of the Test match playing catch-up after conceding a first innings lead, and, aside from him, none of their batsmen even reached fifty.

They can't bank on lightning striking twice, and the real trick will be to transfer the confidence gained from Perera's magical knock through the rest of a top order that stumbled to 90 for 5 and 110 for 5 in Durban. All their bowlers have to do is maintain the standard set in that first match.

It's South Africa's last Test of the summer, and the hosts might be forgiven for letting their focus drift ever so slightly, given that there are now less than 100 days until they walk onto the field for the World Cup opener against the hosts, England. But there is also a series, and pride, on the line and if South Africa can claw back a 1-1 draw, they will also retain their No. 2 position in the Test rankings.

By their own admission, the hosts tried everything they could to dislodge Perera and win the first Test, and such are the margins of this game that on another day a top-edge or a false shot might have reversed that result. Sri Lanka pulled off a once-in-a-lifetime win in Durban, but the even more difficult challenge could be to repeat their success against a South Africa team backed into a corner and out for revenge.