Veteran middle order batsman Aravinda de Silva, the longest serving international cricketer on the circuit today, has applauded his younger teammates for their abrasive, never-say-die approach in the final Test against South Africa.

Sri Lanka nearly pulled off a dramatic victory on the last nerve-tangling day at Centurion as South Africa lost seven wickets chasing a moderate 121 for victory.

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De Silva, who watched the match from Colombo having retired from Test cricket in October, was impressed by attitude shown by the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold, who took the game to the South Africans.

The heated verbal exchanges between Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and the Sri Lankan fielders raised eyebrows amongst those used to watching Asian sides succumb meekly overseas.

De Silva, a vastly experience batsman who will be playing his 289th game on Wednesday, has seen first-hand Sri Lanka's steady rise from international minnows in the 1980's to the competitive force they are today.

"We have a new bunch of players that play the game differently to what we are used to," said De Silva after joining the team in Johannesburg for five One-Day Internationals.

"They are not scared to give as good as they get. They are not over aggressive but, compared to other sides of the past, they are not prepared to sit back and take it without giving something back."

Although skipper Marvan Atapattu admitted afterwards that there had been "a little too much" verbals for his liking, De Silva has no qualms about sledging as long as they players are mature and that the banter stays on the field.

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"It is a good thing as long as it is left on the field and the players get on well with each other afterwards. It is not something that we really did in the past. But it's become part of cricket now and it possibly makes the game more interesting."

De Silva felt that Sri Lank could have won that Test if the batsmen had been able to muster together a handful more runs.

"We played really well in that game and with another 50 runs on the board we would have won. We fought back really well and thanks to players like Hashan Tillakaratne, we were in the game right up into the last day."

He hopes that the Sri Lankans can carry some of that fighting spirit into the forthcoming one-day series. If they can then he believes that Sri Lanka will upset the Proteas on home soil.

"If we play as well as we can then we can win here," he said. "We lacked a bowler in Potchestroom and the rain breaks did not make it easy for us. I don't think too much should be read into that game. The eventual target was very difficult."

De Silva is now looking forward to a final swansong. He has already announced his retirement after the World Cup and will no doubt be looking to finish on a high.

"The world cup is what has kept me going, without that I might have retired. But I am feeling in good nick at the moment and I enjoyed the game at Potchestroom even though we lost."

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