DAY FIVE
Result: BLACKCAPS beat SRI LANKA by 122 runs
BLACKCAPS start home summer in style A complete all-round performance over five days earned the BLACKCAPS a deserved 122 run victory over Sri Lanka in the first ANZ Test of the home summer.
Martin Guptill’s 156 run effort in the first innings laid the platform for victory and also earned him the Man of the Match award.
A second innings hundred by Tom Latham and a classy combined effort by the bowlers ensured New Zealand’s 50th Test win midway through the second session on day five.
The final day began with seven wickets required and all three results a possibility. After a slow first hour where no wickets fell, it was local hero Neil Wagner who sparked the hosts.
Wagner’s hostile downwind spell peppered Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews with short balls and eventually broke their 56 run third wicket partnership.
The wicket of Mathews was one to remember two, as the right hander tried to avoid a body line delivery and only successed in having the delivery ricocheted off him and onto the stumps.
Wagner’s removal of Mathews was followed not long after by the dismissal of Chandimal who shouldered arms to Mitchell Santner and was adjured LBW for.
Southee would cap off a fine first session with the wicket of Kithuruwan Vithanage, who was trapped LBW by the second new ball to leave the visitors 224 for 6.
It didn’t take long for the remaining four wickets to be picked up after lunch, as Trent Boult claimed two in two overs before Mitchell Santner and Doug Bracewell cleaned up the tale to complete an impressive 122 run victory and the first of the home Summer.
Southee finished with six wickets for the match while the recalled Wagner bagged five in an impressive return to the side.
The team relocates to Hamilton early Tuesday to begin preparations for the second ANZ Test at Seddon Park on Friday.
DAY FOUR
BLACKCAPS 431 (Guptill 156, Williamson 88, McCullum 75) & 267-3 (Latham 72*, Williamson 48*)
SRI LANKA 294 (Dimuth Karunaratne 84, Dinesh Chandimal 83) & 109-3 (Kusal Mendis 46, Dinesh Chandimal 31*)
Tom Latham’s third Test century has put the BLACKCAPS in a promising position heading into day five of the opening ANZ Test against Sri Lanka.
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An intriguing day five looms at University Oval, with Sri Lanka needing 296 runs to win and the BLACKCAPS needing eight wickets.
Having resumed at 171-1, Latham steered the side to 267-3 before declaring with a lead of 404. Sri Lanka in reply showed notable grit, but pressure from the BLACKCAPS bowling attack reduced them to 109-3.
With an ominous Dunedin weather forecast looming, the hosts wasted little time in adding to their overnight total in the opening session.
Kane Williamson (71) in particular showed aggression, before a sharp inswinger from Chameera knocked over his castle.
Latham though, playing in front of his parents and partner, earned his chance to raise the bat after 166 balls at the crease.
It was the 23-year-old’s first century on home soil, while he and Martin Guptill became the first New Zealand opening pair to both get a century in the same Test.
Brendon McCullum ended the innings with a bang, bringing up his own milestone before declaring. The Skipper struck his first ball of the innings for six, while his second brought up 100 career Test sixes – equal for the most in history with Adam Gilchrist.
It also signified the end of the innings, leaving five sessions of play and Sri Lanka with the tough task of needing 405 to win.
The visitors top-order grafted hard, but wickets from Tim Southee and Wagner reduced them to 69-2 heading into the final session.
Dinesh Chandimal lived dangerously in the final overs of play, but the final wicket to fall would be that of Kusal Mendis.
With rain threatening and having survived an onslaught from Doug Bracewell, the opener found the edge of Southee and Watling took a superb low catch.
That catch took Watling’s count to nine for the match – equaling a BLACKCAPS record and three off a world record.
It was also the final act of the day, with the heavens opening and wiping out the rest of play.
One final day of the Test left and all three results a chance. Let’s hope the weather plays ball.
DAY THREE
BLACKCAPS 431 (Guptill 156, Williamson 88, McCullum 75) & 171-1 (Latham 72*, Williamson 48*)
SRI LANKA 294 (Dimuth Karunaratne 84, Dinesh Chandimal 83)
The BLACKCAPS seized control of the first ANZ Test against Sri Lanka on a chilly day three in Dunedin.
Three wickets either side of lunch saw the visitors dismissed for 294 and by the time Tom Latham (*72) and Kane Williamson (*48) reached stumps at 171 for one, the lead was a commanding 308 runs.
Tim Southee struck with the second ball of day three and it was the big wicket of Dinesh Chandimal, who was smartly caught at second slip by Martin Guptill for 83.
Southee claimed his third wicket not long after, and when Ross Taylor held a sharp chance off Neil Wagner, the tourist’s tail was exposed at 252 for seven just before lunch.
After the second break Wagner’s use of the short ball paid dividends and soon accounted for Rangana Herath who hauled out to Trent Boult at deep fine leg.
Boult would take the next wicket and spinner Mitchell Santner the 10th, as the visitors were dismissed for 294, giving the BLACKCAPS a first innings lead of 137 runs.
Wicket-keeper BJ Watling claimed the final catch, the fifth time he has taken five or more catches in an innings - a New Zealand record. Southee and Wagner finished with three wickets each, while Boult and Santner chimed in with a pair a piece.
In reply New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Tom Latham began positively and soon raised their second 50 run partnership of the Test.
Guptill looked in similar vein to the first innings and it was perhaps only the pitch that could stop him, and so it proved as Herath got a short of a length delivery to hit the base of middle stump.
Latham pushed on past 50 in the final session and was ably supported by Williamson as the pair eased to the close of play with a 92 run stand.
DAY TWO
BLACKCAPS 431 (Guptill 156, Williamson 88, McCullum 75)
SRI LANKA 197-4 (Dimuth Karunaratne 84, Dinesh Chandimal 83*)
Both teams were made to grind hard on day two of the opening ANZ Test, leaving things evenly balanced at University Oval in Dunedin.
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Facing a 431 run deficit, Sri Lanka were impressively stubborn with the bat, with Dimuth Karunaratne (84) and Dinesh Chandimal (83*) putting on 122 runs for the third wicket.
The BLACKCAPS though toiled hard with the ball, picking up two key wickets in the final session. With a lead of 234, an opportunity for a handy first-innings lead still beckons.
The opening session saw the BLACKCAPS add 22 to their overnight total, with Doug Bracewell (47) bringing up his highest Test score to date.
Sri Lanka’s response got off to a bumpy start, with Trent Boult finding the edge of opener Kusal Mendis (8) and BJ Watling taking a sharp catch. That brought up 100 Test dismissals for the 30-year-old, becoming the fourth New Zealand keeper to do so.
Number 101 wasn’t far away, with local Neil Wagner getting a nick from Jayasundara (1). At 31-2 the visitors were in trouble.
Sri Lanka though remained composed, with Karunaratne and Chandimal withstanding considerable pressure from the BLACKCAPS bowling attack.
While the run-rate was far from spectacular, the pair’s resilience lasted the entire second session, a fruitless one for the BLACKCAPS. At 150-2 Sri Lanka had built a promising platform.
The crucial breakthrough would come from spinning allrounder Mitchell Santner, enticing the edge from Karunaratne and Watling doing some safe work with the gloves.
Soon after the BLACKCAPS had further reason to celebrate, with a successful review seeing the back of Angelo Mathews.
Hotspot showed him to have made the slightest of contact while looking to clip the ball off his pads – Watling took his fourth catch and the skipper was on his way back to the shed for two.
It was the final significant moment of the day, but a crucial first session looms tomorrow. Early wickets could put the BLACKCAPS into a commanding position.
DAY ONE
BLACKCAPS 409-8 (Guptill 156, Williamson 88, McCullum 75)
The Dunedin weather turned it on for the opening day of the home summer and so did BLACKCAPS opener Martin Guptill.
The elegant right-hander’s third Test century, and a record 172-run second wicket stand with Kane Williamson (88), put the hosts in the box seat at 409 for eight at stumps on day one of the first ANZ Test.
BLACKCAPS captain Brendon McCullum has equalled the world record for most consecutive Test caps, since debut
Under sunny skies Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and chose to field on what looked a bowler-friendly pitch.
Guptill and opening partner Tom Latham put on 56, before Latham was caught and bowled for 22 by Suranga Lakmal.
Williamson entered the University Oval to expectant applause and he duly delivered a technical masterclass.
Guptill brought up his fifty just before the lunch break as New Zealand closed a successful first session at 114 for one.
After the break the runs flowed freely, as did the milestones, Guptill’s century raised off 147 balls.
Williamson also looked to be on track for three figures, only to fall on the final ball before tea, breaking the record 172-run stand with Guptill: New Zealand’s highest second-wicket partnership against Sri Lanka.
Guptill would feature in one more big partnership as he played second fiddle to captain Brendon McCullum in full flight.
McCullum smeared the Sri Lankans all over University Oval in the final session, racking up 13 fours and a six en route to an entertaining 75 off 57 balls.
McCullum’s departure would trigger a mini-collapse as Sri Lanka rallied in the last session to to take four for 65.
Guptill brought up his 150, but departed shortly after for 156 and four agonising overs short of stumps.
Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner will resume first thing on day two looking to build the Kiwi total past 450.
