Home Cricket National Cricket Karunaratne leads Sri Lanka to historic Galle Test win

Karunaratne leads Sri Lanka to historic Galle Test win

982
Dimuth Karunaratne

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne led from the front, scoring his ninth century as Sri Lanka recorded a historic six-wicket win over New Zealand on the fifth and final day of the first Test match in Galle.

Resuming the day on 133 for no loss with another 135 runs to win, Sri Lanka reached the target of 268 with only 4 wickets down in the extended first session. With this win, Sri Lanka bagged 60 points in the ICC World Test Championship.

The hosts lead the two-match series, 1-0 with the second and final game set to be played at P. Sara Oval in Colombo from the 22nd August. Following this brilliant run chase, Sri Lanka surpassed their previous highest successful run-chase at the venue; 99 against Pakistan in 2014.

Read – Karunaratne, Thirimanne set Sri Lanka on course to victory

Karunaratne and his opening partner, Lahiru Thirimanne continued to pile on the runs as the pitch, uncharacteristically didn’t offer the vicious turn and bounce, which it is known for in the past.

Thirimanne and Karunaratne equaled the highest opening stand for Sri Lanka against New Zealand, 161 to set up the perfect platform for the hosts. Left-handed Thirimanne, however, played a sweep and he was struck plumb in front by Will Somerville on 64. The Kiwis had to use one of their reviews to reverse the on-field decision to out from not-out.

Following Thirimanne’s dismissal, Kusal Mendis walked out with only one intent, to go berserk on the Kiwi bowlers. He lasted only six balls and had a six, four and slapped one straight to short mid-wicket.

Photo Album – Sri Lanka vs New Zealand | 1st Test – Day 5

Karunarathne dominated Ajaz Patel and reached his hundred by whipping one onto the leg-side boundary. He also became only the third batsman to score a fourth-innings hundred in Galle and the highest individual score; 122 off 243 balls with 6 fours and 1 six.

He couldn’t see his team over the line with 50 runs to win as he wafted one away from body and nicked behind to become Southee’s first wicket in the match. This was also his first century as skipper, third in Galle and second against New Zealand.

Watch – Why BLACKCAPS are the most loved cricket team?

Kusal Perera, who turned 29 yesterday, switched on the T20 mode at number five. He was given out, off Somerville while attempting a reverse-sweep but Sri Lanka’s review overturned the decision as the ball only gazed his forearm. However, Perera went about his business, trying to tear apart the Kiwi bowlers slamming five fours during his brief stay of 23 off 19 balls.

Former captain Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya De Silva made sure Sri Lanka didn’t have any hiccups in the chase as they sealed off the win amidst grass banks, full of fans after Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) opened up the gates, free of charge.

Sri Lanka will be pleased with their all-round performance as Karunaratne’s dream run continues as captain of the Test team, now winning 3 out of 3.

>> VISIT THE #SLvNZ HUB <<

Result


Sri Lanka
267/10 (93.2) & 268/4 (86.1)

New Zealand
249/10 (83.2) & 285/10 (106)

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