Left-handed batter Rachin Ravindra struck an unbeaten 91* with 9 fours and a six to drag the 1st Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand to day five after a riveting fourth day’s play on Sunday at Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Sri Lanka requires only two more wickets whilst New Zealand needs 68 runs on Day five, scheduled to start at 10:00 am. New Zealand finished on 207 for 8 at stumps on day four in their second innings.
Earlier, after the rest day on Saturday, 21st September, due to the Sri Lankan Presidential Polls, Sri Lanka resumed their second innings at 237 for 4, with skipper Dhananjaya De Silva and Angelo Mathews at the crease.
De Silva managed to add just 6 more runs before falling to Ajaz Patel’s left-arm spin. Kusal Mendis, who scored a half-century in the first innings, made 23 before being dismissed by Patel, who took five wickets in just over an hour, finishing with figures of 6 for 90.
Veteran Angelo Mathews reached his 43rd Test half-century, but the lower-order batsmen couldn’t handle Patel’s brilliance, and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 309. New Zealand was set a target of 275 on a deteriorating pitch, and Asitha Fernando struck just before lunch, removing Devon Conway.
The visitors added 101 runs in the post-lunch session, but Sri Lanka claimed three crucial wickets—Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, and Daryl Mitchell. Williamson was stumped off Prabath Jayasuriya, Latham was trapped LBW by Dhananjaya De Silva, and Ramesh Mendis got sharp turn to dismiss Mitchell.
After tea, Tom Blundell missed a reverse sweep, breaking a 56-run stand with Rachin Ravindra. Jayasuriya then spun one away, taking Glenn Phillips’ outside edge. With less than 30 minutes to go before stumps, Ramesh Mendis picked up his second wicket when Mitchell Santner was caught at cover for just 2 runs. A brilliant DRS review helped Sri Lanka dismiss New Zealand captain Tim Southee, reducing the visitors to 8 down.
Despite wickets falling at the other end, Rachin Ravindra played an excellent innings, proving to be a tough opponent for the Lankan spinners on a challenging pitch. He is unbeaten on 91, facing 158 deliveries.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka – 305 (91.5) Kamindu Mendis 114, Kusal Mendis 50, Will O’Rourke 5/55, Glenn Phillips 2/52
New Zealand – 340 (90.5) Tom Latham 70, Daryl Mitchell 57, Kane Williamson 55, Prabath Jayasuriya 4/136, Ramesh Mendis 3/101, Dhananjaya De Silva 2/31
Sri Lanka (2nd Inn) – 309 (94.2) Dimuth Karunaratne 83, Dinesh Chandimal 61, Angelo Mathews 50, Dhananjaya De Silva 40, Will O’Rourke 3/49, Ajaz Patel 6/90.
New Zealand (2nd Inn) – 207/8 (68) Kane Williamson 30, Rachin Ravindra 91*, Tom Blundell 30, Prabath Jayasuriya 3/66, Ramesh Mendis 3/83.
>> Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Hub <<
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | b William O’Rourke | 27 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 108.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Tom Blundell b William O’Rourke | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Michael Bracewell b Tim Southee | 30 | 71 | 3 | 0 | 42.25 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Tom Blundell b William O’Rourke | 36 | 116 | 3 | 0 | 31.03 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Mitchell Santner b Ajaz Patel | 114 | 173 | 11 | 0 | 65.90 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | b Glenn Phillips | 11 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 45.83 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Tim Southee b Glenn Phillips | 50 | 68 | 7 | 0 | 73.53 |
| Ramesh Mendis | lbw b William O’Rourke | 14 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | lbw b Ajaz Patel | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lahiru Kumara | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Asitha Fernando | b William O’Rourke | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 19 (b 4 , lb 10 , nb 4, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 305/10 (91.5 Overs, RR: 3.32) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee | 14 | 2 | 48 | 1 | 3.43 | |
| William O’Rourke | 18.5 | 4 | 55 | 5 | 2.97 | |
| Ajaz Patel | 20 | 4 | 60 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| Mitchell Santner | 19 | 2 | 64 | 0 | 3.37 | |
| Glenn Phillips | 18 | 0 | 52 | 2 | 2.89 | |
| Rachin Ravindra | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Prabath Jayasuriya | 70 | 111 | 6 | 0 | 63.06 |
| Devon Conway | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 17 | 59 | 1 | 0 | 28.81 |
| Kane Williamson | c Kusal Mendis b Dhananjaya de Silva | 55 | 104 | 4 | 1 | 52.88 |
| Rachin Ravindra | b Dhananjaya de Silva | 39 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 81.25 |
| Daryl Mitchell | run out (Kusal Mendis) | 57 | 86 | 7 | 1 | 66.28 |
| Tom Blundell | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 25 | 65 | 1 | 1 | 38.46 |
| Glenn Phillips | not out | 49 | 48 | 2 | 5 | 102.08 |
| Mitchell Santner | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Tim Southee | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| Ajaz Patel | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| William O’Rourke | b Ramesh Mendis | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Extras | 15 (b 8 , lb 3 , nb 2, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 340/10 (90.5 Overs, RR: 3.74) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 7 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 3.57 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 12 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 2.33 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 7 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 4.43 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 23.5 | 1 | 101 | 3 | 4.30 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 40 | 5 | 136 | 4 | 3.40 | |
| Kamindu Mendis | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Tim Southee b William O’Rourke | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | b Ajaz Patel | 83 | 127 | 6 | 0 | 65.35 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Tom Latham b William O’Rourke | 61 | 150 | 6 | 0 | 40.67 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Mitchell Santner b Ajaz Patel | 50 | 111 | 5 | 0 | 45.05 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Mitchell Santner b William O’Rourke | 13 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 108.33 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | st Tom Blundell b Ajaz Patel | 40 | 77 | 4 | 0 | 51.95 |
| Kusal Mendis | b Ajaz Patel | 23 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 76.67 |
| Ramesh Mendis | lbw b Ajaz Patel | 1 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 5.56 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c William O’Rourke b Mitchell Santner | 11 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 45.83 |
| Lahiru Kumara | c Kane Williamson b Ajaz Patel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 25 (b 11 , lb 8 , nb 4, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 309/10 (94.2 Overs, RR: 3.28) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William O’Rourke | 17 | 2 | 49 | 3 | 2.88 | |
| Ajaz Patel | 30 | 8 | 90 | 6 | 3.00 | |
| Mitchell Santner | 14.2 | 2 | 51 | 1 | 3.59 | |
| Tim Southee | 16 | 4 | 39 | 0 | 2.44 | |
| Glenn Phillips | 12 | 1 | 50 | 0 | 4.17 | |
| Rachin Ravindra | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2.20 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham | lbw b Dhananjaya de Silva | 28 | 68 | 2 | 0 | 41.18 |
| Devon Conway | b Asitha Fernando | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Kane Williamson | st Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 30 | 46 | 3 | 1 | 65.22 |
| Rachin Ravindra | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 92 | 168 | 9 | 1 | 54.76 |
| Daryl Mitchell | b Ramesh Mendis | 8 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 30.77 |
| Tom Blundell | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 30 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 69.77 |
| Glenn Phillips | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Mitchell Santner | c Pathum Nissanka b Ramesh Mendis | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 9.09 |
| Tim Southee | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Ajaz Patel | not out | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 9.09 |
| William O’Rourke | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 6 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 211/10 (71.4 Overs, RR: 2.94) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramesh Mendis | 25 | 3 | 81 | 3 | 3.24 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2.50 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 30.4 | 7 | 68 | 4 | 2.24 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 12 | 4 | 32 | 1 | 2.67 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 7.50 | |
