At
last the New Zealand were on right side of the fate, amid threat of rain when a
Trent Boult snorter bounced out Lasith Embelduniya, Kane Williamson side
ensured they register a remarkable win to level the series 1-1 and garner vital
championship points on line
At last the
smiles were back on the face of New Zealand fans after a month of heartbreak
when the side couldn’t win World Cup in spite of a final where they were
unbeaten and then the first test of this series after a Karunaratne special.
The win though didn’t come without any hindrances. Rain, bad light threatened
to rob New Zealand from a well-deserved test victory but just when it looked
that Sri Lanka might have great escape, New Zealand reached the finishing line
in nick of time.
The eighth
wicket stand between Niroshan Dickwella and Suranga Lakmal extended almost to
twenty overs when Will Somerville who have been brave to loop the ball deceived,
Lakmal to get him caught at forward short leg the time was around 4.25 pm and
the hearts were pumping fast, Sri lanka needed to bat another 35 minutes as
there were real chances of bad light stopping the play around that time of the
evening. Tom Latham’s brilliant catch at FSL however ensured that Niroshan
Dickwella was out in those dying moments. Trent Boult didn’t gave any chance
for last pair to sprung surprises as he finished things off getting Embelduniya
caught by Kane Williamson . New Zealand registered a famous test win by an
innings and 65 runs and squared the 2 test match series by 1-1.
The performance
by New Zealand was so dominant was evident by the fact they become the first non-sub
continental side to win by an innings margin on Sri Lankan soil since 1993.
This win was almost identical to the famous win in Colombo in 2012, New Zealand
then also have come back from; behind to level the series .This time the
performance was even more impressive considering the fact the number of overs
which were lost during this match. BJ Watling who was consistent throughout the
series received his first ever man of the series award. While Tom Latham was
adjudged man of the match for a brilliant hundred that set up the match for New
Zealand.
The Morning
started with New Zealand losing Colin De Grandhomme very quickly but it didn’t
affected their plan to accumulate quick runs as BJ Watling scored a fine
century and was ably supported from a quick cameo by Tim Southee.NZ declared
with 187 ahead, clearly aiming to bat once only. In spite of the pressure it
was clear that Sri Lanka were more favourites to draw than New Zealand winning
the game but Sri Lankan top ordered crumbled like pack of cards. Lahiru
Thirimanne and Kusal Perera were gone for nothing and with Angelo Matthews and
Dhananjaya De Silva also getting out cheaply it was clear that Sri Lanka were
in deep trouble. Few minutes before lunch Kusal Mendis was out on a peach from
Somerville. Sri Lanka were reduced to 33-5.
Post lunch the
injured duo of Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella showed some grit an
resolution to grind it out but Karunaratne was out misjudging a top ball from
Tim Southee,Southee then nipped out Dilruwan Perera for his 250th
Test Wicket . Ross Taylor in the slips took a wonderful catch to dismiss Perera
. Sri Lanka were 75-7 and after that Niroshan Dickwella and Suranga Lakmal
tried their best to delay the inevitable but they couldn’t stop a side which is
hungry for success than ever.
With this
important win New Zealand achieved important points as well , their next Test
series will be against England at home followed by a mouth-watering contest
against Indian team which is currently no. 1 but have won only 2 tests in 52
years on New Zealand soil.
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