Home Cricket National Cricket Sri Lanka on the ropes after being made to follow on

Sri Lanka on the ropes after being made to follow on

Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2023

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New Zealand took a decisive step towards sealing a 2-0 series win after a dominant display with the ball on the third day of the Wellington Test.

Having amassed 580 runs over the first two days of the Test, the hosts bowled Sri Lanka out for 164 before enforcing the follow on and taking two second innings wickets. At Stumps, with six sessions still to play in the game, the visitors were still 303 runs away from making New Zealand bat again.

The pitch at the Basin Reserve continued to remain good for batting although off-spinner Michael Bracewell extracted more from the surface than his Sri Lankan counterparts had managed over the first two days. It was the fast bowlers that proved to be the difference between the two sides. While Sri Lanka were profligate through the second day, conceding runs on both sides of the wicket, the pair of Tim Southee and Matt Henry were consistent with their five-metre lengths and also generated appreciable movement in the air and off the pitch.

The captain earned the first breakthrough of the morning when he struck with his seventh ball of the day to dismiss Prabath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan night watcher was opened up as he looked to defend a length ball from the crease as it curved away from him. Henry then earned the big wicket of Angelo Mathews. The veteran batter, coming from a fine hundred in Christchurch, found himself pushing at a delivery well outside the off-stump and feathered a catch to ‘keeper Tom Blundell. Sri Lanka, who had begun the day at 26/2 were quickly reduced to 34/4 and it was up to the old heads of Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal to lift them once more.

And lift they did. After a string of four maidens, Karunaratne cashed in on a full ball from Henry and cover-drove the seamer for a boundary. He followed that up with a pair of fours off Doug Bracewell although the first of them was a top-edged pull that sailed over the ‘keeper’s head. The Sri Lankan captain though was excellent with his drives down the ground and picked up another four and a three off Doug Bracewell’s propensity to bowl the fuller length.

Southee returned for another burst and immediately posed more questions of the batters but the morning juice from the surface appeared to have worn off. Karunaratne flicked for a boundary before another mis-timed pull brought him a half-century. The Sri Lankan captain was adjudged out caught-behind off a Doug Bracewell delivery but had the decision overturned with DRS. At the other end, Chandimal’s innings gained momentum with a crunched lofted drive off Blair Tickner and a paddle-swept four off Michael Bracewell. The off-spinner though found sharp turn and bounce near the end of the session, two factors that proved to be significant when play resumed in the second session.

Sri Lanka imploded once the 80-run stand ended in the fourth ball after Lunch. Chandimal charged out of his crease in his attempts to transfer the pressure back on the off-spinner but was beaten by the dip and the turn and was dismissed for 37 with Blundell effecting a smart stumping.

Sri Lanka never recovered from that early jolt. Dhananjaya de Silva attempted a big slog sweep off his first delivery and didn’t last much longer thereafter, once again trying to step out to Michael Bracewell and finding himself beaten in the air by the dip only to push tamely to short mid-wicket. Nishan Madushka then hit three boundaries in his innings of 19 before he was undone by a sharp Matt Henry delivery that reared up on him to find the edge and loop away to third slip for a simple catch. Kasun Rajitha then ran himself out attempting a non-existent single after driving to mid-on.

The flurry of wickets meant, the otherwise excellent Karunaratne now sought big hits to get to his century. He perished in this attempt after getting too close to a Michael Bracewell delivery and was therefore unable to get distance on a lofted shot over long-off. He was dismissed for a fine 89. Blair Tickner got himself a wicket by dismissing last man Asitha Fernando. Sri Lanka had lost their final six wickets for 55 runs to be bowled out while still being 416 runs in the arrears. The hosts had no qualms in asking their opponents to take strike once more.

It could have gotten worse for the visitors with over 40 overs still to come in the day’s place. The signs were ominous when Oshada Fernando fell early into the final session, flicking a length ball from Doug Bracewell straight to mid-wicket. It was followed by Sri Lanka’s best period of the day overseen by the pair of Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis. Both batters shied away from taking any unnecessary risk and simply batted normally on what was still a good pitch to bat on. After a 71-run stand during which he completed his second half-century of the Test, Karunaratne attempted an ungainly pull off Southee and miscued it to deep square leg where Devon Conway settled under the swirling ball. Mendis got to a fifty of his own and along with Mathews saw off the remaining 11 overs in the day’s play. Sri Lanka will need the talented batter to bat big and for as long as possible to entertain any thoughts of saving this Test.

Result


New Zealand
580/4 (123)

Sri Lanka
164/10 (66.5) & 358/10 (142)

Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Tom Latham c Prabath Jayasuriya b Kasun Rajitha 21 73 0 0 28.77
Devon Conway c & b Dhananjaya de Silva 78 108 13 0 72.22
Kane Williamson c b Prabath Jayasuriya 215 296 23 2 72.64
Henry Nicholls not out 200 240 15 4 83.33
Daryl Mitchell c & b Kasun Rajitha 17 12 1 1 141.67
Tom Blundell not out 17 17 0 0 100.00


Extras 32 (b 2 , lb 17 , nb 8, w 5, pen 0)
Total 580/4 (123 Overs, RR: 4.72)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Kasun Rajitha 32 6 126 2 3.94
Asitha Fernando  26 6 110 0 4.23
Lahiru Kumara 25 1 164 0 6.56
Dhananjaya de Silva 19 3 75 1 3.95
Prabath Jayasuriya 21 1 86 1 4.10
Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Oshada Fernando c Tom Blundell b Matt Henry 6 32 0 0 18.75
Dimuth Karunaratne c Tom Latham b Michael Bracewell 89 188 9 0 47.34
Kusal Mendis c Devon Conway b Doug Bracewell 0 10 0 0 0.00
Prabath Jayasuriya c Daryl Mitchell b Tim Southee 4 17 1 0 23.53
Angelo Mathews c Tom Blundell b Matt Henry 1 10 0 0 10.00
Dinesh Chandimal st Tom Blundell b Michael Bracewell 37 92 4 0 40.22
Dhananjaya de Silva c Tim Southee b Michael Bracewell 0 6 0 0 0.00
Nishan Madushka c Michael Bracewell b Matt Henry 19 31 3 0 61.29
Kasun Rajitha run out (Tom Latham) 0 9 0 0 0.00
Lahiru Kumara not out 1 4 0 0 25.00
Asitha Fernando  c Kane Williamson b Blair Tickner 0 3 0 0 0.00


Extras 7 (b 4 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0)
Total 164/10 (66.5 Overs, RR: 2.45)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Tim Southee 15 6 22 1 1.47
Matt Henry 20 6 44 3 2.20
Doug Bracewell 12 7 19 1 1.58
Michael Bracewell 12 1 50 3 4.17
Blair Tickner 6.5 1 21 1 3.23
Daryl Mitchell 1 0 3 0 3.00


Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Oshada Fernando c WA Young b Doug Bracewell 5 36 0 0 13.89
Dimuth Karunaratne c Devon Conway b Tim Southee 51 83 4 0 61.45
Kusal Mendis c Kane Williamson b Matt Henry 50 106 8 0 47.17
Angelo Mathews c Michael Bracewell b Blair Tickner 2 44 0 0 4.55
Dinesh Chandimal c Doug Bracewell b Blair Tickner 62 92 8 0 67.39
Dhananjaya de Silva c Henry Nicholls b Michael Bracewell 98 185 12 1 52.97
Nishan Madushka c Tim Southee b Blair Tickner 39 93 4 1 41.94
Kasun Rajitha c Kane Williamson b Tim Southee 20 110 1 0 18.18
Prabath Jayasuriya c Blair Tickner b Michael Bracewell 2 45 0 0 4.44
Lahiru Kumara c Michael Bracewell b Tim Southee 7 45 1 0 15.56
Asitha Fernando  not out 0 15 0 0 0.00


Extras 22 (b 0 , lb 6 , nb 2, w 14, pen 0)
Total 358/10 (142 Overs, RR: 2.52)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Tim Southee 27 13 51 3 1.89
Matt Henry 29 8 59 1 2.03
Michael Bracewell 42 14 100 2 2.38
Doug Bracewell 18 3 58 1 3.22
Blair Tickner 26 6 84 3 3.23