South Africa vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test, Day 2 - 5 talking points

#2 Vernon Philander is well and truly back

Philander was exceptional and picked up 2 wickets

The sharp, nippy seamer had a poor period after one heck of a start to his Test career. He was labelled as someone who could bowl well only on meadows, where the pitch helped seam movement.

Taking over from the injured Dale Steyn in Perth, Philander showed how wrong critics were about him as he went about leading the Proteas pace bowlers with panache, finishing as the Man of the Series.

He was unplayable in Port Elizabeth and Newlands against Lanka and on a green pitch in Jo'burg, he looked set to rip through them. A wicket off the third ball spurred him on but too much movement took away some of the threat; he did get the wicket of de Silva before the close of play.