Dinesh Chandimal’s magnificent 16th Test hundred put Sri Lanka in a dominant position at stumps on day one against New Zealand in the second Test at Galle.
Sri Lanka decided to bat first after winning the toss, marking the 6th successive toss won by Dhananjaya de Silva in Tests, continuing his remarkable luck as captain.
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The hosts made two changes, bringing in Milan Rathnayake for Lahiru Kumara and handing a Test debut to Nishan Peiris in place of Ramesh Mendis. The 27-year-old off-spinner became the 167th Test cricketer for Sri Lanka.
New Zealand, despite losing the first game and being under pressure to level the series, opted for an unchanged XI, showing faith in the same combination.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Milan Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Ajaz Patel, Will O’Rourke.
Tim Southee gave New Zealand a brilliant start as Pathum Nissanka nicked one to the keeper in the very first over, with just two runs on the board. The century-maker from the England series has had three brief outings so far.
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Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal set the tone for Sri Lanka, putting together their second consecutive century stand. The latter reached his fifty, batting positively from the outset.
Karunaratne had two early reprieves — dropped on 5 by Daryl Mitchell and missed a stumping on 17 by Tom Blundell. Despite the chances, a horrible mix-up with Chandimal led to his run out for 46.
Chandimal took advantage of the favorable batting conditions, notching up his 16th Test hundred — his sixth at Galle and first against the Black Caps. He nearly shared another century stand with Angelo Mathews, but they fell just three runs short.
Chandimal’s innings ended at 116 after 208 balls, including 16 fours. Attempting a heave against Glenn Phillips, he misjudged the spin from outside off, and the ball crashed into his stumps without making contact with the bat.
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Mathews, on the other hand, got a life after being caught behind down the leg side, where Will O’Rourke had overstepped. The veteran went on to register his 44th half-century.
Kamindu Mendis joined his senior partner, and the duo combined for an unbeaten 85-run stand for the fourth wicket, putting Sri Lanka in a strong position at the end of day one with a total of 306/3.
The left-hander completed a quick fifth half-century in the final over and became the first batter to reach fifty-plus scores in eight successive Tests from debut.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka 305/3 (90) Dinesh Chandimal 116, Angelo Mathews 78*, Kamindu Mendis 51*, Dimuth Karunaratne 46, Glenn Phillips 1/33, Tim Southee 1/54
Day 1 Stumps.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Tom Blundell b Tim Southee | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | run out (Tom Latham) | 46 | 109 | 4 | 0 | 42.20 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | b Glenn Phillips | 116 | 208 | 15 | 0 | 55.77 |
| Angelo Mathews | c William O’Rourke b Glenn Phillips | 88 | 185 | 7 | 0 | 47.57 |
| Kamindu Mendis | not out | 182 | 250 | 16 | 4 | 72.80 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Tom Blundell b Glenn Phillips | 44 | 80 | 3 | 1 | 55.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | not out | 106 | 149 | 6 | 3 | 71.14 |
| Extras | 19 (b 6 , lb 8 , nb 2, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 602/5 (163.4 Overs, RR: 3.68) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee | 19 | 1 | 70 | 1 | 3.68 | |
| William O’Rourke | 17 | 1 | 81 | 0 | 4.76 | |
| Ajaz Patel | 41 | 5 | 135 | 0 | 3.29 | |
| Mitchell Santner | 33 | 5 | 82 | 0 | 2.48 | |
| Glenn Phillips | 38 | 4 | 141 | 3 | 3.71 | |
| Rachin Ravindra | 12.4 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 4.35 | |
| Daryl Mitchell | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 8.33 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham | c Pathum Nissanka b Asitha Fernando | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Devon Conway | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 9 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Kane Williamson | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 7 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 13.21 |
| Ajaz Patel | lbw b Nishan Peiris | 8 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 19.51 |
| Rachin Ravindra | b Nishan Peiris | 10 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Daryl Mitchell | c Angelo Mathews b Prabath Jayasuriya | 13 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 86.67 |
| Tom Blundell | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Glenn Phillips | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mitchell Santner | b Nishan Peiris | 29 | 51 | 4 | 1 | 56.86 |
| Tim Southee | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| William O’Rourke | not out | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 13.33 |
| Extras | 5 (b 5 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 88/10 (39.5 Overs, RR: 2.21) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2.00 | |
| Nishan Madushka | 17.5 | 3 | 33 | 3 | 1.89 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 18 | 6 | 42 | 6 | 2.33 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Latham | c Pathum Nissanka b Nishan Peiris | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Devon Conway | c Dinesh Chandimal b Dhananjaya de Silva | 61 | 62 | 10 | 1 | 98.39 |
| Kane Williamson | c Ramesh Mendis b Nishan Peiris | 46 | 58 | 4 | 0 | 79.31 |
| Rachin Ravindra | b Nishan Peiris | 12 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Daryl Mitchell | c Pathum Nissanka b Prabath Jayasuriya | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Tom Blundell | lbw b Nishan Peiris | 60 | 64 | 6 | 2 | 93.75 |
| Glenn Phillips | c Dimuth Karunaratne b Nishan Peiris | 78 | 99 | 6 | 3 | 78.79 |
| Mitchell Santner | st Kusal Mendis b Nishan Peiris | 67 | 115 | 6 | 3 | 58.26 |
| Tim Southee | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 10 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Ajaz Patel | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 22 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 55.00 |
| William O’Rourke | not out | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 3 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 360/10 (81.4 Overs, RR: 4.41) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Peiris | 33.4 | 4 | 170 | 6 | 5.09 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 34 | 2 | 139 | 3 | 4.09 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 5 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 2.80 | |
| Milan Rathnayake | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3.50 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 7 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 4.00 | |
