Momentum swings in New Zealand’s favour
Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten on 20 and nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya on 2 not out.
Paceman Asitha Fernando claimed four scalps, but New Zealand gained an advantage of 18 runs - Pic courtesy PhotoSportNZ
Sri Lanka who must win the series 2-0 to seal their place in the World Test Championship final, had done everything right in the first two days to put the hosts under tremendous pressure, but New Zealand came back strongly, first surpassing Sri Lanka’s score of 355 to get a slight first innings lead of 18 and then breaking the backbone of Sri Lanka’s batting.
Blair Tickner dismissed Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne for 17, Oshada Fernando for 28, and Kusal Mendis for 14, finishing with figures of 3 wickets for 28 runs off 10 overs after New Zealand’s middle and tail punished the Sri Lankan bowlers to seize the initiative.
New Zealand have “swung the game to their side,” conceded Sri Lanka assistant coach Naveed Nawaz, who suggested Sri Lanka would need at least 200 more runs.
“Daryl Mitchell and Matt Henry, the partnership, took the game away from us. But we have to back ourselves that a couple of our batsmen will go in there and get stuck in and get some big runs to swing the game back to our side,” he said.
“It’s a good wicket to bat on and gives a little bit to the fast bowlers still so I suppose anything above 275-300 would be a good score.”
Having resumed the day on 162 for 5, trailing by 193 runs in the first innings, New Zealand powered their way into a position of control through a stubborn Daryl Mitchell century (102) — his fifth in career and first against Sri Lankans — and a brisk half-century from Matt Henry (72).
Mitchell added 62 runs to his overnight score, toiling through 193 deliveries, and shared 54 for the sixth wicket with Michael Bracewell, a further 47 with Tim Southee, and 55 with Henry.
Soon after reaching his century, he leapt in the air and waved his bat to celebrate the special moment. But he managed to add only 2 more to his score as he was caught behind off Lahiru Kumara as New Zealand lost their eighth wicket at 291.
Henry then exploded. The right-hander scored a personal best of 72 runs, which included 10 fours and three sixes. He hit off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva for 17 runs and then scored 24 runs off Kasun Rajitha as he brutally treated the Sri Lankan bowlers in his near run-a-ball knock.
His blazing innings was ended by an inswinging yorker from right-arm seamer Asitha Fernando when marauding Henry cleared the front leg and tried to go over long-on but missed it completely. Henry returned to the pavilion when the score was on 360 as the ninth wicket, and Neil Wagner (27) and Tickner added another 13 runs for the last wickets before Asitha Fernando picked his fourth wicket (Wagner) to end New Zealand’s vigil in the middle.
New Zealand’s tailenders made a huge difference to their total score by adding 126 runs between Tim Southee (25), Matt Henry (72), Neil Wagner (27), and Blair Tickner (2n.o.).
For Sri Lanka, Fernando returned the best figures of four for 85, while Kumara took three for 76. Kasun Rajitha also picked up two wickets while Prabath Jayasuriya had the wicket of Michael Bracewell –the first New Zealand wicket to fall on the third day.
Of concern was the fitness of Neil Wagner, who left the field for treatment for a leg injury during the final session of the match. It is unclear what the nature or severity of the injury is, but the fact that he required treatment suggests that it may be a cause for concern.
| SCORECARD | |
| Sri Lanka 1st innings 355 all out (92.4) (Kusal Mendis 87, Dimuth Karunaratne 50, Dananjaya de Silva 46; Tim Southee 5/64, Matt Henry 4/80) New Zealand 1st innings (overnight 162-5) Tom Latham b Fernando 67 Devon Conway lbw Fernando 30 Kane Williamson c Karunaratne b Kumara 1 Henry Nicholls c Rajitha b Kumara 2 Daryl Mitchell c Dickwella b Kumara 102 Tom Blundell c Dickwella b Rajitha 7 Michael Bracewell c Dickwella b Jayasuriya 25 Tim Southee c Kumara b Rajitha 25 Matt Henry b Fernando 72 Neil Wagner c de Silva b Fernando 27 Blair Tickner not out 2 Extras (b4, lb6, w3) 13 Total (all out; 107.3 overs) 373 Fall of wickets: 1-67 (Conway), 2-70 (Williamson), 3-76 (Nicholls), 4-134 (Latham), 5-151 (Blundell), 6-188 (Bracewell), 7-235 (Southee), 8-291 (Mitchell), 9-360 (Henry), 10-373 (Wagner) Bowling: Kasun Rajitha 31-10-104-2, Asitha Fernando 29.3-5-85-4, Lahiru Kumara 25-5-76-3, Dananjaya de Silva 9-2-34-0, Angelo Mathews 3-0-18-0, Prabath Jayasuriya 10-1-46-1 Sri Lanka 2nd innings Oshada Fernando c Blundell b Tickner 28 Dimuth Karunaratne c Nicholls b Tickner 17 Kusal Mendis c Bracewell b Tickner 14 Angelo Mathews not out 20 Prabath Jayasuriya not out 2 Extras (lb1, w1) 2 Total (3 wickets; 38 overs) 83 Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Karunaratne), 2-47 (Fernando), 3-81 (Mendis) Bowling: Tim Southee 12-4-23-0, Matt Henry 10-2-19-0, Blair Tickner 10-1-28-3, Neil Wagner 3-0-9-0, Daryl Mitchell 3-1-3-0 |