Sri Lanka 306-3 (Chandimal 116, Mathews 78*, Kamindu 51*, Phillips 1-33) vs New Zealand
The only thing in New Zealand’s favour was the early wicket of Pathum Nissanka, who was outswingered by Team Saudi at the end of the first over. Chandimal quickly set the base for his team against the fast bowlers while the new ball was still swinging, and the home team piled on the runs as the batting conditions eased with the ball getting old and the sun shining.
Karunaratne got two lives, first at slip at 5, then at O’Rourke, and then on 17, he came down to attack Ajaz Patel and took a big swing but missed, surviving a stumping opportunity. Chandimal also edged the ball a few times early against the pace bowlers, but that didn’t stop him from throwing shots. He was out of the mark with a ferocious scythe that crashed the ball to the deep point boundary, and then went over cover against Southee’s outswinger. He took Ajaz’s left-arm spin around the wicket and scored a quick run.
His most perfect picture of the boundary was against O’Rourke, who squared the off side and bowled a full delivery up top with plenty of power and perfect timing. As he raced to 42 for 41, Southee brought left-arm spin from both ends to stem the tide of runs before lunch, and Ajaz and Mitchell Santner bowled together for 36 runs in 15 overs, the odd ball turning sharply. Now patient, Chandimal was stuck at 49 off 13 balls before finally reaching the landmark on the 79th ball.
A quick shower in the first over extended the lunch break from 12.00 to 12.22 and when play resumed, the confusion led to a fielding attempt that ended the 100-run partnership. Karunaratne flicked Santner’s ball to midwicket and ran all the way, but Chandimal could barely get out of the crease. Meanwhile, Glenn Phillips’ midwicket throw was at short leg, missing the keeper, and Latham hit the stumps with an underarm throw that was just right for the batsman to find it short.
New Zealand gave Matthews life. When O’Rourke had to throw the last ball of the 44th over overstep, he gave Matthews a tickle along the leg side and saw the umpire’s finger go up, but seconds later he saw his hand go out to the side. Matthews then relaxed, patiently watching the spinners stick to tight lines and lengths with a slightly flatter trajectory.
Meanwhile, Chandimal continued to bowl full deliveries through the covers, grounding spinners when the field was not open, and even got a bonus of four runs for an overthrow to reach 95. He conceded a century with the Rock the Baby celebration after becoming a father in June. Mathews relied heavily on backfoot cuts and punches from spinners, shifting his weight to the ball with his powerful arms and wrists. Chandimal fell just after Mathews had scored his 44th Test half-century, losing his off-stump as he danced and missed an off-break, compensation for Phillips bowling a tight line all day.
Fortune continued to favour the hosts in the final session. Kamindu, the first Test centurion, managed to get Southee to pass the seventh and eighth balls in almost identical fashion just before the second new ball, but both times the ball went through the gap between Blundell and wide slip. After the new ball, after O’Rourke fell to Mitchell at slip, Kamindu started a flurry of boundaries in the next over, starting with a slow-sweeping six off Ajaz, before slicing three fours in quick succession to register his half-century off 53 balls.
O’Rourke used his height and great jumping ability to snatch the end of Matthews’ bat sharply late in the day, but when the ball ended up just reaching Tom Latham’s fingertips for four runs, Latham summed up New Zealand’s day with a wry smile.
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo.
