SRI LANKA VS NEW ZEALAND , 1ST TEST, GALLE HIGH LIGHTS : Prabath Jayasuriya’s Dynamic Bowling Pulled a Remarkable Victory Over New Zealand To Take The Lead 1-0 In Test Series .
Prabath Jayasuriya clinched five wickets, securing Sri Lanka’s 63-run victory over New Zealand on the final morning of the first Test in Galle. Set a target of 275, the Black Caps were dismissed for 211 shortly after play resumed, with Rachinindra leading with a score of 92. Ravindra had fought alone on Sunday on a sharply turning pitch in Galle, where the tourists had previously lost all four Test matches. Prabath Jayasuriya’s Dynamic Bowling Pulled a Remarkable Victory Over New Zealand To Take The Lead 1-0 In Test Series .
Toss-
Sri Lanka’s captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and elected to bat first.
Playing XIs
Sri Lanka:
Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando.
New Zealand:
Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (capt), Will O’Rourke.
Day 1-
Rookie New Zealand fast bowler William O’Rourke disrupted Sri Lanka’s top order early on, claiming two wickets with the hosts at 88 by lunch. New Zealand gambled by excluding veteran bowler Matt Henry; however, O’Rourke soon proved his worth.
Sri Lanka faced some challenges by tea at 178 for five. Yet a crucial 103-run partnership between Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis revived them and secured a reasonable first-innings total.
Kamindu Mendis had typically batted at No. 7 but was promoted to No. 5 for this match. Normally batting with the tail in his lower position often led him to run out of partners. He reached his century by dispatching a full toss from part-time spinner Rachin Ravindra to the boundary.
William O’Rourke took three wickets in Galle but couldn’t unsettle Kamindu Mendis (114), who posted his fourth Test century in just his seventh match.
Elevated in the order to maximize run scoring opportunities, prolific middle-order batsman Kamindu Mendis delivered a fine hundred on Wednesday. He rescued Sri Lanka from a difficult situation as the hosts reached 302-7 at stumps on Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand.
Day 2-
Ajaz Patel got an early wicket, Prabath Jayasuriya packing before the rain. We had rain breaks in the first session. Once we got back on, William Rourke grabbed two more wickets, snagging his first five-wicket haul in the subcontinent .
Tom Latham & Devon Conway kicked off with a bang for New Zealand, racking up 63 runs for the first wicket. But then, Conway got out for 17 to off-spinner Ramesh Mendis in the 19th over, totally against the flow of things.
Latham and Kane Williamson kept the momentum going, adding another 63 runs for the second wicket. They batted for 20 overs, made sure Sri Lanka had no chance to bounce back in that session.
Poor Latham missed out on a hundred, falling for 70 to Jayasuriya. Williamson hung in there and teamed up with Rachin Ravindra at No. 4. Rachin took charge, smashing four boundaries in his quickfire 39-ball 48 before Dhananjaya de Silva bowled him out.
In the final session, New Zealand lost Williamson (55 off 104) and Rachin quickly but thanks to solid batting from Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, Sri Lanka couldn’t get any more wickets.
Tom Latham and Kane Williamson led New Zealand’s fightback with the bat against Sri Lanka’s 305 on a rain-hit Day 2 of their first Test in Galle. Latham made a solid 70 while Williamson scored a classy 55 under tough conditions as New Zealand ended at 255 for 4 by stumps on Thursday.
Day 3-
So, New Zealand picked up from 255-4 but lost their last few wickets in no time. Though, Glenn Phillips tried his best with his 49 in 50 balls.
It was a big deal for the Kiwis finally score over 300 in Galle. Since they’ve always lost there in their past four Tests, that’s something.
Sri Lanka got the first wicket of the day when Tom Blundell was given out after a review. His 73-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell ended there.
Jayasuriya bagged four wickets, even getting opener Latham out who top-scored with 70. Ramesh grabbed three more.
The young lad O’Rourke had a strong start. He got Nissanka out in his second over with a bouncer edged to Tim Southee.
Karunaratne, scoring 83, was all over the loose balls & forced NZ to spread out the field. Chandimal, with his 61, played it safe.
Azal Patel broke the game open after tea. He bowled a ball that spun sharply from outside the rough, surprising Karunaratne and slipping past his sweep attempt.
Next over, rookie William O’Rourke got Chandimal to flick one right into Tom Latham’s hands at leg gully.
Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne pieced together a solid 147-run stand. This pushed Sri Lanka to a lead of 202 on day three of this first Test against New Zealand on Friday.
Day 4-
The match took a break on Saturday ’cause of Sri Lanka’s presidential elections. Play kicked off again on Sunday mornin’, but no fans were around at first. Folks came back after lunch when the election curfew ended.
Sri Lanka started out at 237-4 and added 72 more runs. Angelo Matthews hit 50 before he got nipped at first slip by Patel. Dimuth Karunaratne was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with 83 before Patel bowled him out on Friday.
Ajaz Patel grabbed six wickets, helpin’ hold Sri Lanka to 309 in the mornin’. His 6-90 was the best by a Kiwi bowler in Sri Lanka since Vettori’s 6-64 way back in ’98.
New Zealand opener Tom Latham got trapped lbw by Sri Lanka’s captain Dhananjaya de Silva for 28. Ramesh bowled out Daryl Mitchell for a measly eight. Jayasuriya snagged the key wicket of Williamson for 30, tempting him outta his crease & getting him stumped by keeper Kusal Mendis.
Ravindra’s knock was the highest score ever by a New Zealander at this ground, topping Ross Taylor’s 89 from 2019. The leftie looked pretty solid on that spin-friendly pitch, but didn’t get much help from his teammates.
Ramesh Mendis & Prabath Jayasuriya both picked up three wickets each on this tricky turning pitch in Galle, where Black Caps always seem to lose their Test matches.
Day 5
New Zealand really had a mountain to climb 68 runs on the last morning. But things didn’t turn out so for them. Poor Rachin Ravindra, the star player, got out real quick, which kinda crushed their hopes. Sri Lanka didn’t waste any time and wrapped up the game in just 29 balls. They were in charge all along, to be honest.
New Zealand’s big mess-up happened on day three. They were sitting pretty at 255 for 4 but blew it and couldn’t get a big first-innings lead.
Ravindra tried his best with a solid 92 runs, but yeah, it wasn’t enough. Jayasuriya was totally on fire with his 5 for 68, while spin buddy Ramesh Mendis also did his part by picking up 3 for 83. Even though New Zealand really went for the chase, Jayasuriya’s awesome spell sealed the deal for Sri Lanka. They’ve now got an unbeatable lead in the series.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 305 & 309 (Dimuth Karunaratne 83; Ajaz Patel 6/90) beat New Zealand 340 & 211 (Rachin Ravindra 92; Prabath Jayasuriya 5/68, Ramesh Mendis 3-83) by 63 runs.