Led by Kane Williamson’s expertly paced 121, New Zealand secured a thrilling last-ball win by 2 wickets at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch to not only beat Sri Lanka but also end their hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship final. India and Australia will contest in the WTC title clash at the Oval in June.
On a rain-marred day which wiped out more than one session of play on Monday, the fate of the contest came down to the last ball. With one run needed off the last two balls, Asitha Fernando bowled a bouncer that went over Kane Williamson’s head. It wasn’t given a wide and the equation came down to one run off the last ball, with Neil Wagner – the hero of New Zealand’s last Test win – at the other end, having to scamper for a quick single with an injured hamstring and a bulged disc on his back which has already ruled him out of the next Test.
Curiously, New Zealand sent Wagner ahead of Blair Tickner with just three balls remaining with five runs to win. The pressure of needing to take quick runs was eased when Williamson drove the third delivery through square, beating the two fielders marshalled at the boundary line to stop it, for a boundary. With the natural light beginning to fade quickly, the floodlights were switched on for the last ball.
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Needing one run off the last ball, Williamson missed a hard length delivery and Wagner scampered through for a single as the keeper’s throw missed the stumps. Nonetheless, Fernando collected the throw and affected a direct hit at the none-striker’s end where WIlliamson made a desperate dive to make his ground just in time.
Needing 257 runs to win on the final day. With a good part of the play lost in the morning, New Zealand started ultra-cautiously. The disciplined line of operation to go with the movement on offer for the Sri Lankan bowlers made run-scoring difficult. Williamson had a close shave in just the third over of the day, when he survived a legbefore appeal on umpire’s call. Soon enough, Kasun Rajitha induced an outside edge that fell short of the slip fielder.
Latham and Williamson helped New Zealand past the 50-run mark but took 27 overs in the process. Latham’s 80-ball stay for 24 ended soon after as he chopped a delivery from Prabath Jayasuriya on to the stumps. Henry Nicholls’s stay in the middle was short and scratchy. Time and again he was beaten and kept getting edges. Soon after the drinks break, he was dismissed when he top-edged an attempted sweep against Jayasuriya.
Williamson improved as his innings progressed, but there were no shortage of chances provided by him. When he was batting on 33, Kumara induced an edge to the ‘keeper, who dropped it after diving to his right. Sri Lanka’s efforts to bowl in negative channels down the leg side for a brief period backfired as the umpires kept calling wides.
Williamson reached his half-century with a shot through the gully region for a boundary. In the company of Daryl Mitchell, Williamson turned the pace of the contest around. The duo added 142 runs for the fourth wicket which flipped the entire momentum of the contest. They kept rotating the strike frequently, even picking up twos and threes. As the partnership flourished, they also shifted a gear higher. Soon after Mitchell smashed Jayasuriya down the ground for a six, Williamson meted out a similar treatment to Kumara, getting a top edge to a pull fo another six as the scoring rate picked up drastically once the ball became older.
The hosts were left needing 101 runs, in 15 overs, when the final drinks break was taken. It was then that New Zealand made a serious dash towards the target. Mitchell accepted Jayasuriya’s offer and danced down the track twice in four balls to hit the spinner out of the ground. Just when it seemed that New Zealand had momentum on their side, Sri Lanka struck back with quick wickets.
Fernando cleaned up Mitchell, who inside edged a full delivery on to his stumps, while Tom Blundell was cleaned up by the pacer for three. He also ended Michael Bracewell’s brief cameo on 10 when the hard-hitting batter holed out to deep mid wicket, much similar to Tim Southee’s fall later in the innings.
However, through it all, Williamson manoeuvred the ball expertly through the gaps and picked up several twos to bring New Zealand close to victory. The hosts were reduced from 232 for 3 to 280 for 8, with only a 28-run stand between Bracewell and Williamson of note.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oshada Fernando | c Tom Blundell b Tim Southee | 13 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 41.94 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Tom Latham b Matt Henry | 50 | 87 | 7 | 0 | 57.47 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Tim Southee | 87 | 83 | 16 | 0 | 104.82 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Mitchell Santner b Matt Henry | 47 | 98 | 6 | 1 | 47.96 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Tom Latham b Tim Southee | 39 | 64 | 6 | 0 | 60.94 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Tom Blundell b Tim Southee | 46 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 77.97 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | lbw b Michael Bracewell | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 53.85 |
| Kasun Rajitha | c William Somerville b Matt Henry | 22 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 56.41 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Tom Blundell b Matt Henry | 13 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 32.50 |
| Lahiru Kumara | not out | 13 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 40.62 |
| Asitha Fernando | lbw b Tim Southee | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 6 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 355/10 (92.4 Overs, RR: 3.83) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee | 26.4 | 10 | 64 | 5 | 2.42 | |
| Matt Henry | 26 | 8 | 80 | 4 | 3.08 | |
| Blair Tickner | 20 | 2 | 103 | 0 | 5.15 | |
| Neil Wagner | 10 | 1 | 68 | 0 | 6.80 | |
| Daryl Mitchell | 7 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 2.43 | |
| Michael Bracewell | 3 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 5.67 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham | b Asitha Fernando | 67 | 144 | 7 | 0 | 46.53 |
| Devon Conway | lbw b Asitha Fernando | 30 | 88 | 2 | 0 | 34.09 |
| Kane Williamson | c Dimuth Karunaratne b Lahiru Kumara | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 9.09 |
| Henry Nicholls | c Kasun Rajitha b Lahiru Kumara | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Daryl Mitchell | c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara | 102 | 193 | 6 | 2 | 52.85 |
| Tom Blundell | c Niroshan Dickwella b Kasun Rajitha | 7 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 31.82 |
| Michael Bracewell | c Niroshan Dickwella b Prabath Jayasuriya | 25 | 57 | 2 | 0 | 43.86 |
| Tim Southee | c Lahiru Kumara b Kasun Rajitha | 25 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Matt Henry | b Asitha Fernando | 72 | 75 | 10 | 3 | 96.00 |
| Neil Wagner | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Asitha Fernando | 27 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 112.50 |
| Blair Tickner | not out | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Extras | 13 (b 4 , lb 6 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 373/10 (107.3 Overs, RR: 3.47) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 31 | 10 | 104 | 2 | 3.35 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 29.3 | 5 | 85 | 4 | 2.90 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 25 | 5 | 76 | 3 | 3.04 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 9 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 3.78 | |
| Angelo Mathews | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 10 | 1 | 46 | 1 | 4.60 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oshada Fernando | c Tom Blundell b Blair Tickner | 28 | 52 | 4 | 0 | 53.85 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Henry Nicholls b Blair Tickner | 17 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 37.78 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Michael Bracewell b Blair Tickner | 14 | 55 | 1 | 0 | 25.45 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Tom Blundell b Henry Nicholls | 115 | 235 | 11 | 0 | 48.94 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Tom Blundell b Blair Tickner | 6 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 18.75 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | b Tim Southee | 42 | 107 | 2 | 0 | 39.25 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 47 | 73 | 7 | 0 | 64.38 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Tom Blundell b Matt Henry | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | lbw b Matt Henry | 14 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Lahiru Kumara | run out (Kane Williamson) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Asitha Fernando | c Kane Williamson b Tim Southee | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 11 (b 4 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 302/10 (105.3 Overs, RR: 2.86) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee | 26.3 | 9 | 57 | 2 | 2.17 | |
| Matt Henry | 28 | 5 | 71 | 3 | 2.54 | |
| Blair Tickner | 28 | 1 | 100 | 4 | 3.57 | |
| Neil Wagner | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Daryl Mitchell | 12 | 2 | 31 | 0 | 2.58 | |
| Michael Bracewell | 8 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 3.38 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 25 | 80 | 3 | 0 | 31.25 |
| Devon Conway | c & b Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 31.25 |
| Kane Williamson | not out | 121 | 194 | 11 | 1 | 62.37 |
| Henry Nicholls | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 20 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Daryl Mitchell | b Asitha Fernando | 81 | 86 | 3 | 4 | 94.19 |
| Tom Blundell | b Asitha Fernando | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Michael Bracewell | c Chamika Karunaratne b Asitha Fernando | 10 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 90.91 |
| Tim Southee | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lahiru Kumara | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Matt Henry | run out (Kasun Rajitha) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Neil Wagner | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 15 (b 5 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 285/8 (70 Overs, RR: 4.07) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 17 | 5 | 61 | 1 | 3.59 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 19 | 4 | 63 | 3 | 3.32 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 19 | 1 | 92 | 2 | 4.84 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 15 | 3 | 61 | 1 | 4.07 | |
