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Sri Lanka [267, 268/4] defeat New Zealand [249, 285] by 6 wickets in the 1st Test

SL 267
NZ 249, 124/5 (49.0) CRR: 2.53
Day 3: 2nd Session - New Zealand lead by 106 runs
 
Sri Lanka are clearly on top, but I think New Zealand aren't completely out of the game yet. Need at least 70 more runs and its going to be a challenge.
 
Need a couple of our tailenders to play a Lakmal like innings.
 
SL 267
NZ 249, 195/7 (76.0) CRR: 2.57
Day 3: Play stopped due to bad light - New Zealand lead by 177 runs

& Stumps!

NZ looking good for a win.
 
MenInG said:
SL 267
NZ 249, 195/7 (76.0) CRR: 2.57
Day 3: Play stopped due to bad light - New Zealand lead by 177 runs

& Stumps!

NZ looking good for a win.
Click to expand...

Good fight back by nz, if they get nz out cheaply sl wont be worried about the target.

Pitch is not that bad once u in..
 
SL should back themselves to chase down 250 in the 2nd inns to win the test, anything more than that then it will be NZ's game really.
 
Deewana Mastana said:
SL should back themselves to chase down 250 in the 2nd inns to win the test, anything more than that then it will be NZ's game really.
Click to expand...

250 might be a bit too much but current lead is 177, get em out less than 200 lead sri lanka fav. It day 4 and not 5.

Williamson threw is wicket away, its not that bad of a wicket.
 
Sri Lanka’s three-pronged spin attack dismantled New Zealand’s top-order, before a fighting 63* by BJ Watling stretched their lead to 177 in the first Test.

Getting assistance from a day three Galle surface, Sri Lankan spinners picked up the first three Kiwi wickets for just 25 runs. They, however, ran into an unbeaten rearguard effort from Watling, who notched up his 17th Test fifty and led New Zealand’s fightback, with the side ending the day on 195-7.

Earlier, Watling’s wicket-keeping counterpart from the other camp, Niroshan Dickwella top-scored for Sri Lanka with a crucial 61 at No.7. He was well supported by Suranga Lakmal’s 40, his second-best Test score, as Sri Lanka managed to edge past New Zealand’s first innings score.

Beginning the day on 227-7, the duo extended their stand to 81, before Lakmal departed, dragging an attempted slog onto his stumps. Dickwella followed soon after, with the Lankans eventually ending on 267.

New Zealand’s bid to build on their lead started off on the wrong note, when they lost Jeet Raval in the eighth over, with the score on 8. They slid further when Kane Williamson, on 4, tried to loft Lasith Embuldeniya down the ground, only to be caught by a leaping Kusal Perera at mid-on.

Ross Taylor followed soon after, chasing a wide delivery that only caught a thick edge and nestled into the hands of the first slip, leaving the Kiwis on 25-3.

Left-arm spinner Embuldeniya, playing only his third Test, ended with four wickets on a spin-dominated day, perhaps taking a leaf out of the retired Rangana Herath, who picked up over a 102 wickets in 19 games on this ground.

Apart from Watling, only Tom Latham managed to go past 40, combining with Henry Nicholls (26) to repair some of the early damage and steady the innings. Their 56-run stand ended with Latham’s departure on 45. Keeper Dickwella spilled an edge of Nicholls’ bat, but only minutes later, Kusal Mendis gobbled up an edge at first slip, to send half the Kiwi side back, with the score reading 98.

BJ Watling then began his act of resistance, even as the spinners extracted turn off the rough, on a track in the process of deterioration. After a 35-ball 12, Santner was the next victim, as he tried to work a short ball to the leg side, only to see it balloon in the air and fall into the hands of deep midwicket.

Watling then found an ally in No.8 Tim Southee, forging a critical 54-run stand to steer New Zealand towards 200, even as the Sri Lankan spinners managed to find kick and turn off the surface. After Southee fell for 23, Will Sommerville (5) gave Watling company till the end, with early stumps enforced by bad light, six overs before the scheduled close.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1312974
 
This game keeps switching one way and then the other way. New Zealand will be the favourites if they get over 200.
 
Hasan123 said:
This game keeps switching one way and then the other way. New Zealand will be the favourites if they get over 200.
Click to expand...

Its a day 4 pitch, still ok to bat, anything below 225 and sri lanka will be good. I wont take the new bowl tomorrow if i am sri lanka tomorrow, get the final 3 wickets quick with the old bowl.
 
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Watling with a gritty knock. Very handy player. He needs to take NZ to 220 at least to stand a chance i think considering it is not a day 5 pitch.
 
NZ are virtually 177-7. So, this is already anyone's game now. However, if NZ can add 50 more runs, I think they will be the favourites to win this match.

It's anyone's game between 175-225. < 175 gives SL advantage while >225 makes NZ favourites.
 
SL vs NZ, Galle

Day 4: Start delayed due to wet outfield - New Zealand lead by 177 runs
 
Must say nz came back excellently after being 25/3, they hav runs on the board.

Bowl has spun so far today... Lets see..
 
There are no demons on the wicket. Yes, there is slow turn. But that can be safely negotiated by good batsmen.

SL will win if they bat sensibly. Just need to hold their nerve.
 
NZ 249, 285
SL 267, 48/0 (25.3) CRR: 1.88
Day 4: 2nd Session - Sri Lanka need 220 runs

Excellent fight from Sri Lanka - very good match this
 
NZ 249, 285
SL 267, 76/0 (32.0) CRR: 2.38
Day 4: Tea Break - Sri Lanka need 192 runs
 
This has been a great Test match. No ODI or T20 can beat a close Test match. SL will be happy with their start but 1 wicket for NZ can open the floodgates
 
TheRock said:
There are no demons on the wicket. Yes, there is slow turn. But that can be safely negotiated by good batsmen.

SL will win if they bat sensibly. Just need to hold their nerve.
Click to expand...

133/0 close of play.

SL played excellently, not the usual galle wicket playing sensibly and looks like easy victory now..
 
Kiwis need quick wickets here , to have any hope to come back in the game, they need it very very soon.
 
SL vs NZ, Galle

Day 5: 1st Session - Sri Lanka need 124 runs

NZ - 249, 285
SL - 267, 144/0 (56.0 Ovs)

CRR: 2.57
 
Brilliant fightback by SriLanka, they are becoming into a formidable Test unit. Winning Test at Gale after losing Toss is one of the toughest task in game. I think, SRL's Test approach is much better than ODI - they play specialist (Bowlers) and play with a positive intent, but don't go for reckless mad rush. And, Karuna as Captain has shown expectation beyond expectations, quite mature as well.
 
Might not hurt today, but often in chases, Angelo consumes too many harmless balls which doesn't help chasing mid to large range targets. 30 required with 7 wickets at hand, so Lankans are almost home, but I would have liked to see better initiatives from Angelo than 18 (52).
 
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I am sure other teams would have crumbled under 4th innings pressure, but sri lankans have really become master in 4th innings chase after that 100 from perera in SA.


Srilanka is a level above pakistan in tests for sure. They are on level with south africa.
 
Majestic_Inzi said:
133/0 close of play.

SL played excellently, not the usual galle wicket playing sensibly and looks like easy victory now..
Click to expand...

NZ played 3 specialist spinners.
Also bowled last on a sub continent pitch defending 260+ total.

Yet, lost it without showing a fight. LOL

This shows the difference between having quality and quantity. (In spinners)
 
Sarfraz should learn a thing or two from Karunaratne.

Leading from the front, great innings captain.
 
Congrats SRL for a tremendous win. A 2-0 win can take them to 5th spot in ranking. Karuna truly the best Test opener in Asia now and he is leading the team from front.
 
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne’s ninth Test hundred underpinned the highest successful chase ever at the Galle International Stadium, as Sri Lanka ushered into the World Test Championship era with a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the first Test.

Never before had a team successfully chased a three-figure score at the old Lankan fortress. But on Sunday, 18 August, Sri Lanka rewrote the record books by running down 268 with six wickets in hand, thanks to Karunaratne’s brilliant 122 at the top of the order.

The win also gave Sri Lanka 60 points on the Test Championship table, taking them above Australia, whose 251-run win over England in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston, had given them 24 points.

On a surface that did not deteriorate as drastically as Galle surfaces are known to, New Zealand’s bowlers struggled to make breakthroughs, picking up just four wickets after 86 fourth-innings overs.

Each of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, William Somerville and Ajaz Patel, who had snared a five-wicket haul in the first innings, picked up a wicket each. But, crucially, they conceded 214 runs between them. Or, in other words, close to 80% of the required runs.

But this was a story about Karunaratne and Sri Lanka. Before Sunday, the home team captain had batted 24 times in the fourth innings of a Test match and had never once scaled down the three-figure mark, the closest he had to come to doing so being 97.

But on Sunday, he clinically led Sri Lanka towards victory. The process began early, as Karunaratne stitched together 161 runs with Lahiru Thirimanne for the first wicket to effectively ensure that New Zealand were always playing catch up.

Nearly half the target had been shaved off on the fourth evening, when Sri Lanka went into stumps on 133/0. Which meant that all they needed to do was avoid losing early wickets and start steadily on the fifth morning.

They would have failed in that bid had Tom Latham not dropped a tough chance at short leg in the sixth over of the morning, when Karunaratne attempted to flick Patel and offered a low chance to the close-in fielder. He was on 78 then.

A four and a six off the captain’s bat in back-to-back overs was an indication that there were no demons on this pitch and that batting would be a far easier pursuit than it typically is on a day-five Galle surface.

Ajaz Patel could not replicate his first-innings heroics Ajaz Patel could not replicate his first-innings heroics
New Zealand had to wait ten overs into the morning for the breakthrough to arrive. Thirimanne ventured a lavish sweep and was pinned in front of leg stump by Somerville. But all it took were four balls to offset the damage and turn the heat back on New Zealand, as new man Kusal Mendis slapped a four and a six in his first four balls after arriving.

Mendis’ hurried and chancy stay – he had offered a chance that flew past short leg first ball – came to an end in the next over, when he tried to sweep Patel and picked out Jeet Raval at mid-wicket.

Karunaratne had, meanwhile, quietly moved on to 99. He used his feet to take on Patel and loft him through the cow corner region to raise the hundred, which was met with a hearty round of applause.

Sri Lanka’s 200 arrived three overs later as the game began to rapidly slip out of New Zealand’s hands. Karunaratne finally perished in the 77th over, nicking off to the ‘keeper BJ Watling after attempting a loose drive against Tim Southee.

But by then, the damage had already been inflicted on the visiting team. A late wicket of Kusal Perera, with Sri Lanka 18 runs away from the target, hardly deterred the home team, as they sealed the chase inside an extended first session that lasted 36.1 overs.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1316505
 
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