Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore refused to panic after his side's crushing innings defeat at the hands of South Africa on Sunday.

Sri Lanka lost by an innings and 64 runs inside three days, their seventh defeat in 12 matches against the South Africans.

But Whatmore tried his hardest to look on the bright side: "There is no point in getting too emotional about this defeat. There were some real positives and we have to put South Africa under more pressure next time."

"We bowled them out for 386 despite all the extras and Ruchira (Perera) being forced out of the attack. With a little bit more effort in the batting department in the first innings, we could have been in a position to put pressure on them in the second innings – batting got harder and harder as the match progressed."

Sanath Jayasuriya defended his brave decision to bat first on a lively pitch that offered the South African seamers plenty of movement on day one.

"I have no regrets," said Jayasuriya. "I thought we had a good opportunity when we won the toss but we failed to score the runs that we had expected."

He couldn't hide his frustration with his wayward bowlers: "The bowling was very disappointing. We bowled on both sides of the wicket. All the South African bowlers bowled in the right areas."

South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock was delighted with his team's performance, their fourth consecutive Test victory.

"We got on top very early and kept up the momentum," said Pollock. "We had a little bit of a hiccup in the middle of the order, with a few loose shots, but Jacques (Kallis) came through for us."

"They were always on the back foot after we got that lead and wickets often fall quickly when a side is under pressure like that.

"Our bowling was very good, especially on the day when we kept up the pressure after being a little bit unlucky in the morning. You have to be disciplined in the bowling department to win Test matches and that was an area we had identified for improvement."

Pollock said he would have bowled first if he had won the toss: "We were always going to bowl first after we picked five fast bowlers – that was our game plan. There was some assistance on the first day."

Man of the match Jacques Kallis, who took three crucial middle order wickets on the first afternoon and then scored a painstaking five-hour 75, believed his partnerships with Mark Boucher and Pollock were crucial.

"It wasn't one of my prettiest innings but it was one of those days that we had to graft. The partnerships with Bouch and Polly were crucial, taking the game away from them – we didn't want to bat last on that wicket."

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