lunch New Zealand They need 262 runs to win 340 and 13-1 (Latham 5*, Williamson 4*, Asitha 1-5). Sri Lanka 305 and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Mathews 50, Ajaz 6-90)
Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 72 runs and New Zealand finished off Sri Lanka’s second innings in the morning session of day four of this first Test in Galle, meaning they will aim for 275 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
New Zealand needed to negotiate just five overs before lunch, but lost the wicket of Devon Conway, who cut Ashita Fernando’s wicket, and slotted it sharply over good length outside off. Prabhas Jayasurya also took a couple of turns on the increasingly unstable surface, but New Zealand broke without further damage, leaving them 262 runs away with victory.
Azaz, who started the session well with a probing line and length and used the cross breeze well, stumped De Silva in his fourth over of the morning, four overs before the second new ball.
Before Silva was dismissed, a ball came down the track and missed the flight outside off. The turn and bounce fooled both the keeper and first slip, saving the Sri Lankan captain. But he was not so lucky after one delivery, and again he was beaten by drift, dip and turn, but this time he could not get his back foot back into the crease before Tom Blundell could swing the bale.
Kusal Mendis joined Mathews in the middle and the pair put on 36 runs in quick succession, but just three overs after the second new ball, Mendis shouldered Azaz outside the offside, and the ball bounced off his elbow and into the stumps.
Mathews became the third half-centurion of the innings along with Ramesh Mendis, but was out soon after, pushing Azaz to first slip as he attempted to defend forward, and Daryl Mitchell managed to get his fingers under the ball and catch it low.
Azaz, who had hit five fours, soon achieved the feat by trapping Ramesh in front and catching a missed sweep, and a few balls later, Lahiru Kumara quickly got the sixth ball with an easy chip shot over mid-off.
Prabhas Jayasurya made a brave effort to knock two boundaries against Team Saudi to create some quick runs, but Mitchell Sentner, who bowled his first over of the day, needed just two deliveries to end his cameo as he was run out at long-on.
