Sri Lanka will require a record fourth-innings chase to beat New Zealand after BJ Watling resisted with the bat to put the visitors ahead by 177 runs in the first Test match of the two-match series at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Watling played a gem of an innings along with the tail to remain unbeaten on 63 from 138 balls with 5 fours as the Kiwis finished Day 3 on 195 for 7. The highest successful fourth-innings run chase at this venue is 99 by Sri Lanka vs Pakistan in 2014.
The home team started off well with the ball in the third innings of the match when part-time off-spinner Dhananjaya De Silva dismissed New Zealand opening batsman Jeet Raval, a soft dismissal as the left-hander drove one, upishly, straight to skipper Dimuth Karunaratne at short extra cover before lunch.
Skipper Kane Williamson picked up another failure with the bat, when he played a reckless stroke, coming down the track and trying to loft Lasith Embuldeniya over the in-field on the off-side. He managed only to give plenty of height to the ball, with the bat turning in his hand as Kusal Perera held onto a brilliant catch over his shoulders at mid-on.
Ross Taylor tried to dominate Embuldeniya just like he did in the first innings by coming down the track. But, this time around, he edged it straight to first slip as the visitors stumbled to 3 down, only 7 runs in the lead.
Read : Middle-order collapse leaves Sri Lanka in frail position
Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls, with their backs pushed to the wall, counter-attacked the Lankan spinners to add 56 runs in no time. Latham and Nicholls used the sweep effectively and played on the back-foot to whip the ball through mid-wicket consistently.
However, Akila Dananjaya managed to find the edge of Latham, while Nicholls, despite being given a life by Dickwella, found the edge again, which was pouched cleanly this time by the same man as the Kiwis started losing their way.
As it has been the case throughout the match, a wicket fell just before the Tea break when Mitchell Santer top-edged a long-hop by Embuldeniya to deep mid-wicket, taking the visitors to 124 for 6 with a session to go in the third day.
Tim Southee and Watling defied the Lankans with a resilient 54-run stand for the 7th wicket to extend the lead as the hosts dropped a few half-chances too. Embuldeniya drew Southee forward with a brilliantly flighted delivery as he was stumped for 23.
>>Photos: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand | 1st Test – Day 3<<
Earlier, the proceedings on day three began with the hosts adding 40 runs to their overnight score in 13.2 overs to attain a slender 18-run lead.
Wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella and Suranga Lakmal continued to build on their eighth-wicket stand to reduce the deficit. However, Lakmal continued playing his shots but copped first a blow to his elbow off Trent Boult and soon one onto the stumps to end the 81-run stand.
Dickwella reached a well-constructed fifty – his 12th in Tests to take Sri Lanka into the lead. But, off-spinner Will Somerville removed Dickwella and Lasith Embuldeniya to limit Sri Lanka’s lead to only 18 runs. Both Somerville and Ajaz Patel, who took five wickets on day two, shared eight wickets between them to bowl Sri Lanka out for 267.
Watch Live – New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2019 – 1st Test Match
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeet Raval | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Akila Dananjaya | 33 | 83 | 3 | 0 | 39.76 |
| Tom Latham | c Niroshan Dickwella b Akila Dananjaya | 30 | 88 | 3 | 0 | 34.09 |
| Kane Williamson | c Dimuth Karunaratne b Akila Dananjaya | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ross Taylor | c Niroshan Dickwella b Suranga Lakmal | 86 | 132 | 6 | 0 | 65.15 |
| Henry Nicholls | lbw b Akila Dananjaya | 42 | 78 | 2 | 0 | 53.85 |
| BJ Watling | lbw b Akila Dananjaya | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Mitchell Santner | lbw b Suranga Lakmal | 13 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 30.95 |
| Tim Southee | run out (Dhananjaya de Silva) | 14 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 73.68 |
| William Somerville | not out | 9 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 32.14 |
| Trent Boult | c Kusal Perera b Suranga Lakmal | 18 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 81.82 |
| Ajaz Patel | lbw b Suranga Lakmal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 3 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 249/10 (83.2 Overs, RR: 2.99) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-64 (26.3) Tom Latham, 2-64 (26.6) Kane Williamson, 3-71 (30.2) Jeet Raval, 4-171 (58.2) Henry Nicholls, 5-179 (60.2) BJ Watling, 6-205 (69.1) Ross Taylor, 7-216 (73.5) Mitchell Santner, 8-222 (74.6) Tim Southee, 9-249 (83.1) Trent Boult, 10-249 (83.2) Ajaz Patel, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suranga Lakmal | 15.2 | 5 | 29 | 4 | 1.91 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 10 | 1 | 37 | 0 | 3.70 | |
| Akila Dananjaya | 30 | 3 | 80 | 5 | 2.67 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 6 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 3.33 | |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 22 | 1 | 81 | 0 | 3.68 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lahiru Thirimanne | st BJ Watling b Ajaz Patel | 10 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 27.78 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | lbw b Ajaz Patel | 39 | 73 | 4 | 0 | 53.42 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Ross Taylor b Ajaz Patel | 53 | 89 | 7 | 1 | 59.55 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Ross Taylor b Ajaz Patel | 50 | 98 | 7 | 1 | 51.02 |
| Kusal Perera | c Mitchell Santner b Trent Boult | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c & b Ajaz Patel | 5 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 26.32 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Kane Williamson b William Somerville | 61 | 109 | 3 | 0 | 55.96 |
| Akila Dananjaya | c Ross Taylor b William Somerville | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Suranga Lakmal | b Trent Boult | 40 | 98 | 3 | 2 | 40.82 |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | lbw b William Somerville | 5 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 29.41 |
| Lahiru Kumara | not out | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 3 (b 1 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 267/10 (93.2 Overs, RR: 2.86) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-27 (10.6) Lahiru Thirimanne, 2-66 (22.5) Dimuth Karunaratne, 3-143 (46.5) Kusal Mendis, 4-144 (47.3) Kusal Perera, 5-155 (52.2) Dhananjaya de Silva, 6-158 (54.1) Angelo Mathews, 7-161 (55.5) Akila Dananjaya, 8-242 (84.4) Suranga Lakmal, 9-262 (91.1) Niroshan Dickwella, 10-267 (93.2) Lasith Embuldeniya, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | 20 | 4 | 45 | 2 | 2.25 | |
| Tim Southee | 7 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 2.43 | |
| William Somerville | 22.2 | 3 | 83 | 3 | 3.74 | |
| Ajaz Patel | 33 | 6 | 89 | 5 | 2.70 | |
| Mitchell Santner | 11 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 2.82 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeet Raval | c Dimuth Karunaratne b Dhananjaya de Silva | 4 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Tom Latham | c Lahiru Thirimanne b Akila Dananjaya | 45 | 81 | 2 | 1 | 55.56 |
| Kane Williamson | c Kusal Perera b Lasith Embuldeniya | 4 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 16.00 |
| Ross Taylor | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lasith Embuldeniya | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Henry Nicholls | c Kusal Mendis b Dhananjaya de Silva | 26 | 71 | 2 | 0 | 36.62 |
| BJ Watling | c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara | 77 | 173 | 6 | 0 | 44.51 |
| Mitchell Santner | c Suranga Lakmal b Lasith Embuldeniya | 12 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 34.29 |
| Tim Southee | st Niroshan Dickwella b Lasith Embuldeniya | 23 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 37.10 |
| William Somerville | not out | 40 | 118 | 2 | 0 | 33.90 |
| Trent Boult | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lahiru Kumara | 26 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 104.00 |
| Ajaz Patel | lbw b Dhananjaya de Silva | 14 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 60.87 |
| Extras | 11 (b 4 , lb 5 , nb 2, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 285/10 (106 Overs, RR: 2.69) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-8 (7.4) Jeet Raval, 2-20 (14.4) Kane Williamson, 3-25 (16.3) Ross Taylor, 4-81 (27.5) Tom Latham, 5-98 (39.2) Henry Nicholls, 6-124 (49.3) Mitchell Santner, 7-178 (69.5) Tim Southee, 8-224 (90.3) BJ Watling, 9-260 (98.2) Trent Boult, 10-285 (105.6) Ajaz Patel, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suranga Lakmal | 15 | 2 | 37 | 0 | 2.47 | |
| Akila Dananjaya | 32 | 4 | 84 | 1 | 2.62 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 12 | 3 | 25 | 3 | 2.08 | |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 37 | 4 | 99 | 4 | 2.68 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 10 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 3.10 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c BJ Watling b Tim Southee | 122 | 243 | 6 | 1 | 50.21 |
| Lahiru Thirimanne | lbw b William Somerville | 64 | 163 | 4 | 0 | 39.26 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Jeet Raval b Ajaz Patel | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 166.67 |
| Angelo Mathews | not out | 28 | 73 | 2 | 0 | 38.36 |
| Kusal Perera | c Mitchell Santner b Trent Boult | 23 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 121.05 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 14 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 107.69 |
| Extras | 7 (b 6 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 268/4 (86.1 Overs, RR: 3.11) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-161 (60.2) Lahiru Thirimanne, 2-174 (61.5) Kusal Mendis, 3-218 (76.1) Dimuth Karunaratne, 4-250 (82.2) Kusal Perera, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | 9.1 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 3.74 | |
| Tim Southee | 12 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 2.75 | |
| William Somerville | 31 | 6 | 73 | 1 | 2.35 | |
| Ajaz Patel | 18 | 0 | 74 | 1 | 4.11 | |
| Mitchell Santner | 13 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 2.92 | |
| Kane Williamson | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3.00 | |
