Having been set a target of 189 runs to win after a poor display of batting by the visitors, Williamson led the Kiwi batting lineup in what could be a match winning innings.
For the 1st time in the series, Sri Lanka came into the day with a clear advantage over the hosts New Zealand. They began the day needing just one wicket to end the Kiwi 1st innings.
Now in the past Sri Lanka had sometimes struggled to clean up the tail, but not today; they had the last wicket on the 6th delivery of the morning when Trent Boult miscued a pull off Nuwan Pradeep. Doug Bracewell was left stranded on the other end for a well-made 35.
Then the Sri Lankan openers came into bat and put on their best partnership for the calendar year. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis enjoyed some luck early on but stuck to their game plan and began to take the game away from the New Zealanders gradually. Bracewell had bowled with little luck so far throughout the tour, despite perhaps being the best bowler for the hosts. He broke through the Sri Lankan opening stand with an excellent short delivery in the 23rd over; Karunaratne fending off to slip.
Two deliveries later he had Udara Jayasundera caught behind off yet another bouncer. New Zealand’s appeal was initially denied but upon review 3rd umpire Richard Kettleborough deemed that the on field decision should be overturned. It was a tricky call as although Hotspot did show a flash on Jayasundera’s glove when the ball passed, the flash was gone in the next frame. There was no spike on real time Snicko either.
However a zoomed in camera angle from behind the batsman seemed to show a deflection off the glove. Jayasundera looked disappointed with the decision and things got even more confusing when a split screen replay later on indicated that the ball’s change of direction had come before it passed the glove. Nevertheless the batsman was given out and Sri Lanka were yet again in a spot of bother.
Sri Lanka’s best batsman of the series, Dinesh Chandimal did not last long, clipping the ball off his hips to leg gully – Neil Wagner the bowler this time. The visitors ended the 1st session with a lead of 140 and at this point were looking good to post at least a 300 run chase for the Kiwis.
It took New Zealand just 9.3 overs after lunch to ensure that Sri Lanka did not reach nor even get close to that 300 run mark, taking the last 7 wickets for 56 runs. Mendis was the 1st to go after lunch, looking to get to his maiden test fifty with a boundary and only succeeding in finding the fielder on the boundary; to be fair, it was a very well judged catch by Mitchell Santner. Milinda Siriwardene joined Angelo Mathews and seemed to have decided that the only way to get out of this mess would be to attack. So he came out playing his shots, Mathews was caught out trying to emulate Siriwardene’s aggression.
The Lankan batsmen did not seem to understand that being aggressive does not mean that they had to chase every delivery bowled to you and the rest of the batting collapsed like a ton of bricks, leaving New Zealand a target of 189 runs. Sri Lanka effectively lost all their second innings wickets for 62 runs in 12.2 overs…. after having put on their best opening partnership of the year! All the wickets came off short deliveries except the comical runout of a tail ender, which seems to be a feature of Sri Lanka’s batting these days.
Sri Lanka began the last innings of the game hoping for a miracle to help them win the game and draw the series. A minor miracle came in the form of Mathews finally giving Dushmantha Chameera the new ball. The poor kid would not have imagined that he would have the ball in his hands today after the start Sri Lanka got to the day but he didn’t disappoint; picking up both the openers in the space of 5 overs and giving Sri Lanka some hope.
New Zealand’s best batsmen were at the crease now and Sri Lanka knew that they would have to break this partnership soon if they were to continue their momentum. However Kane Williamson proved yet again why he is often rated more highly than players like Steve Smith and Joe Root by playing a beautifully constructed innings to rescue the hosts. Ross Taylor provided ample support and despite surviving a close LBW review off Rangana Herath, he and Williamson put together a 67 run partnership for the 3rd wicket.
Chameera came back to break the partnership that was looking increasingly threatening when he had Taylor caught at the boundary by substitute fielder Jeffrey Vandersay. Vandersay kept his eyes on the high ball and took the catch inches from the advertising triangle but knowing that he was going to fall over with his momentum having moved him back towards the rope, he popped the ball high, jumped outside the rope and then back inside to complete a fantastic catch. Chameera seemed to carry the weight of the team on his young shoulders and with him out of the attack, Williamson and Brendon McCullum started looking comfortable at the crease again.
Mathews kept ringing the changes in the bowling and about half an hour after he was taken out of the attack, Chameera came back for his 3rd spell and immediately had a charging McCullum caught at cover. In the last over of the day Suranga Lakmal bowled a peach of a delivery to take Santner’s outside edge while Williamson looked on from the other end.
At the end of the day’s play, New Zealand were left needing 47 runs with 5 wickets in hand. The key for both teams will be Williamson who is known for his calm during tough situations. A milestone awaits for youngster Chameera as well as he could become only the 2nd Sri Lankan fast bowler to pick up a ten wicket haul in test cricket after Chaminda Vaas.
