New Zealand struck twice in quick succession but not before Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne stroked their respective half-centuries en route a 137-run stand for the second wicket. Sri Lanka headed to Tea on the opening day at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on 209 for 3, with the veteran duo of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal steady on 28 and 24 respectively.
After a power-packed second hour of play, at the back of Mendis’s attack, which propelled the visitors to 120 for 1 at Lunch, a similar trend followed in the early period of play of the second session. The semaers were getting the ball to move. A few streaky boundaries notwithstanding, Mendis didn’t hold back on the attack.
Karunaratne, who had taken advantage of the errors in lengths by the New Zealand pacers offset by Mendis’s aggressive play, moved along to his 32nd Test fifty. The batters were squared up and beaten several times but waded through the tough period rather courageously before Tim Southee’s inswinger had Mendis trapped legbefore on 87. One previous reviews against the batter had failed, but this time Mendis opted against taking a review. Soon enough, even Karunaratne was sent back. Drawn into a drive, the extra bounce by Matt Henry caught the outside edge of the southpaw’s bat and went straight to Tom Latham at second slip.
Chandimal and Mathews didn’t have it any easier through the initial period of their stay in the middle. A few deliveries caught the edge but fell in safe areas. They were also beaten regularly and looked uncomfortable in the middle. A few close legbefore appeals, a mix up in the middle and a confident review for caught behind turned down.
Nonetheless, as the session wore on and the ball became slightly older, run-scoring became fairly simpler. A brief rain break possibly helped. The duo put on an unbeaten stand of 58 before Tea, with Chandimal ending the session with three successive boundaries in the last over – one ramped over the slip cordon, a half volley driven past mid off and a full delivery through cover.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand won the toss and elected to field. Even as the moving ball troubled the Sri Lankan openers, it was a delivery down the leg side in the seventh over that helped the hosts bag the first wicket of the day. Oshada Fernando clipped the delivery by Southee to the ‘keeper to fall on 13.
Mendis, however, didn’t slow down in testing conditions. He went on the attack, and after a rief bit of luck where the edges found him a few boundaries, he stroked some glorious drives, picking 15 boundaries in the morning session and unsettling the New Zealand pacers.
Even Neil Wagner’s attempt to test the batter with short-pitched deliveries backfired as he was hammered for 30 runs from his first three overs. Southee and Tickner were meted out similar treatment, conceding three boundaries in an over each.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 209/3 (Kusal Mendis 87, Dimuth Karunaratne 50; Southee 2-38) vs New Zealand
