Graeme Smith is hoping South Africa?s 2-1 Sunfoil test series victory over Sri Lanka on Friday will provide a solid building block for the year ahead.
The Proteas wrapped up a 10-wicket victory over the tourists shortly after tea on the fourth day at Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town to clinch a first series victory on their own soil since 2008 when they beat Bangladesh.
Australia have twice been to the country since and walked away with a win and a draw, while England and India also claimed shared results during their tours, but Smith felt that the hosts were slightly short of the cutting edge on those occasions.
But after cruising to victory over the Sri Lankans, Smith said: ?We haven?t lost too many matches, but we just lacked that killer punch. We?ve had opportunities to close out series, but haven?t.
?This one (series win) gives us a lot to build on now for the year to come.
?We have away tours to New Zealand, England and Australia, those are tough challenges, so winning and winning well here was important.?
Jacques Kallis, Imran Tahir and Vernon Philander all finished with three wickets apiece in Sri Lanka?s second innings to seal the win.
Smith described the bowling performance as the best of the summer, even though South Africa had turned in some other memorable performances like toppling Australia for 47 in November.
"This was our best bowling performance of the summer," Smith added. ?We bowled well as a unit and we were able to create pressure.
DREAM PERFORMANCE
"It wasn't just one guy, it was everyone. All three seamers and Imran (Tahir), they all worked well together, so there?s a lot to build on from there.?
Smith also defended the under-pressure players in his side like Mark Boucher, who dropped several catches through the series, insisting he was an ?ultra-reliable gloveman, who will be crucial in England? later in the year.
Kallis, a man who made a career-best 224 in the match to go with his six catches and three wickets, described his performance as a ?dream? one and one that rarely happens when a player takes part in a milestone game.
?For me to have played my 150th game here at Newlands, I couldn?t have asked for it to work out better,? the 36-year-old said.
?To get a team victory firstly means a lot in my 150th game and then personally to put in a performance like that?you dream of performances like that in milestone games.?
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan refused to pin the loss on his decision to bat first on the opening day after he had called correctly at the toss.
He said: ?We didn?t bowl well as a unit and team as a whole has to take the blame.
"After the Durban game we came here with a lot of confidence but we didn't start well with the bowling.
?We talked about a lot of things coming into this test match, but we let ourselves down in all departments.?
Source: http://www.supersport.com/cricket/article.aspx?Id=1191151
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