Muralitharan took his 17th 10-wicket match haul

The off-spinner claimed match figures of 10-172 to help secure an innings and 153-run triumph in the first Test.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Murali is the greatest spinner ever.

"These were difficult conditions to bowl in. It was hot and humid and the wicket was getting slower as the match progressed," skipper Jayawardene said.

Muralitharan, 34, now has 645 wickets from 107 Tests, second in the all-time list behind Australian Shane Warne's 685 from 140 matches.

"Murali bowled 64 overs in the second innings and just kept probing the batsmen. He is so hungry for wickets," Jayawardene continued.

"I am certain he would have been named man of the match if I had not got that big score or the record stand."

That was a reference to the captain's 374 and his world record partnership of 624 with Kumar Sangakkara (287) in Sri Lanka's 756-5.

We had our backs against the wall from the first day Ashwell Prince

He said his team had maintained the momentum they built in England, where they fought back to draw the Test series 1-1 before winning the one-dayers 5-0.

"That tour gave us the confidence to play better," Jayawardene added. "We had to make sure we did not go off the boil and needed to stick to our game plan.

"We were very positive in everything we did here. It was a great achievement by the whole team."

South Africa slumped to 169 after winning the toss and were bowled out for 434 after lunch on the fifth day.

Prince's men did better second time round but it was not enough

Stand-in captain Ashwell Prince said: "We had our backs against the wall from the first day.

"In hindsight I would still have batted first even though the wicket got easier on the second and third days.

"As I told the boys, there were too many soft dismissals that caused our downfall and it was always going to be a struggle from there.

"But the guys showed great courage in what were not easy conditions.

"We batted quite well the second time, which is a great positive to take from the match. We will be better prepared for the second Test."

The tourists, without regular captain Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis through injury, will be reinforced by veteran all-rounder Shaun Pollock for the second Test, also in Colombo, which starts on Friday.