Peiris, Jayasuriya ravage New Zealand on 13-wicket day
New Zealand were spun out and made to follow on, on a day hit by rain and bad light
Stumps New Zealand 88 (Santner 29, Jayasuriya 6-42, Peiris 3-33) and 199 for 5 (Conway 61, Blundell 47*, Phillips 32*, Peiris 3-91) trail Sri Lanka 602 for 5 dec by 315 runs
It was a tale of two bowlers, and thankfully for New Zealand, at least two partnerships on a day dominated by the home spinners in Galle. Prabath Jayasuriya bagged 6 for 42, and debutant offspinner Nishan Peiris took 3 for 33, as Sri Lanka spun New Zealand out for 88, their lowest all-out total against Sri Lanka, in the first innings.
After securing a mammoth 514-run lead, Dhananjaya de Silva made New Zealand follow on.
They lost a wicket in the first over in their second innings, but Devon Conway came out all guns blazing after lunch, and along with an enterprising Kane Williamson, added entertaining 97 off 108 balls.
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Jayasuriya, Peiris and Dhananjaya then fashioned a collapse – New Zealand’s second on the day – in a period where Sri Lanka bagged 4 for 24. But, on the other side of that slide, Tom Blundell and Glenn Phillips chose to counterattack before bad light and rain combined to bring an early end to the third day’s play.
Blundell (47*) and Phillips (32*) added an undefeated 78 off just 84 balls for the sixth wicket, pumping two sixes each on the way. They had joined hands just before tea – Peiris had cleaned Rachin Ravindra up with a beautiful delivery turning away – and took the attacking route three overs into the final session.
Blundell launched Peiris for two big sixes in the 33rd over, both times by stepping out and going down the ground.
Phillips, meanwhile, ticked along at the other end with regular singles and twos, looking assured at the crease against both left-arm spin and offspin. He belted Peiris for a six over long-on in the 37th over and Blundell decided to keep counterpunching with successive fours over Jayasuriya’s head in the 38th. That brought up the fifty stand in 62 balls.
Kane Williamson and Devon Conway run between the wickets, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Galle, 3rd day, September 28, 2024
Blundell reverse swept Peiris for four, and Phillips launched another six down the ground in what turned out to be the final over of the day. Eventually, though, New Zealand were still 315 runs behind Sri Lanka.
Conway had hit back at Sri Lanka with plenty of attacking shots in the afternoon session. He smashed 61 at just short of a run a ball, in what his first Test half-century in 11 innings since March 2023. He hit ten boundaries and a six during his knock, and employed both sweeps – the conventional and the reverse – against the spinners, and earned the rewards too. Of those 19 shots, he got 33 runs, including six boundaries.
But Conway’s innings ended when he looked to loft Dhananjaya over extra cover, as Dinesh Chandimal, who was stationed there, turned around, ran, and grabbed the ball as it dropped over his shoulders. By then, Williamson had chugged along steadily, keeping himself busy running between the wickets, and by hitting the occasional boundary.
Peiris removed Williamson on 46 in the 23rd over, courtesy another well-judged catch. Ramesh Mendis, the substitute fielder, whom Peiris replaced in this Test, was placed at long-on, and had to keep his eyes on the ball for a long time but moved calmly to his right to take it with a reverse cup.
Prabath Jayasuriya struck early on day three, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Galle, 3rd day, September 28, 2024
Soon after, New Zealand also lost Daryl Mitchell, who chipped one off Jayasuriya to an alert Pathum Nissanka at short leg, and Ravindra. But Blundell and Phillips’s partnership, along with the weather, took the game into the fourth day, a prospect that seemed unlikely when Jayasuriya and Peiris ran through New Zealand’s line-up in the morning.
The two spinners combined to rattle New Zealand, who had started the day at 22 for 2 in their first innings. Dhananjaya finished with five catches – all of them off the spinners – as the hosts had a bash on a bright, sunny morning. A bit of rough was visible outside the batters’ stumps even on the second evening, with the ball turning and assisting the spinners already; and whatever New Zealand’s batters did on the third morning didn’t work.
Williamson and Ajaz Patel were out defending, Ravindra was bowled trying to play the lap sweep. Blundell punched hard off the back foot but Dhananjaya took a sharp catch at slip. Phillips flayed, Mitchell slogged, and Tim Southee pushed at the ball; but no matter what they did, all of them lost their wickets. New Zealand lost 7 for 47 after being 41 for 3 at one stage, and got near three figures because of the resistance provided by Mitchell Santner, who scored 29. In the end, Williamson even ended up batting across two innings within the morning session.
But it was Williamson and Conway in the afternoon, and then Blundell and Phillips in the evening, who ensured Sri Lanka didn’t have it as easy in the second outing.
Sri Lanka 1st Innings
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Pathum Nissanka
c †Blundell b Southee
1 3 5 0 0 33.33
Dimuth Karunaratne
run out (Phillips/Latham)
46 109 150 4 0 42.20
Dinesh Chandimal
b Phillips
116 208 271 15 0 55.76
Angelo Mathews
c O’Rourke b Phillips
88 185 243 7 0 47.56
Kamindu Mendis
not out 182 250 391 16 4 72.80
Dhananjaya de Silva (c)
c †Blundell b Phillips
44 80 87 3 1 55.00
Kusal Mendis †
not out 106 149 188 6 3 71.14
Extras (b 6, lb 8, nb 2, w 3) 19
Total
163.4 Ov
(RR: 3.67, 670 Mins)
602/5d
Did not bat:
Nishan Peiris,
Prabath Jayasuriya,
Milan Rathnayake,
Asitha Fernando
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Pathum Nissanka, 0.6 ov), 2-124 (Dimuth Karunaratne, 39.1 ov), 3-221 (Dinesh Chandimal, 72.3 ov), 4-328 (Angelo Mathews, 96.3 ov), 5-402 (Dhananjaya de Silva, 118.3 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Tim Southee
19 1 70
1
3.68 0 0
William O’Rourke
17 1 81 0 4.76 2 2
Ajaz Patel
41 5 135 0 3.29 1 0
Mitchell Santner
33 5 82 0 2.48 0 0
Glenn Phillips
38 4 141
3
3.71 0 0
Rachin Ravindra
12.4 0 54 0 4.26 0 0
Daryl Mitchell
3 0 25 0 8.33 0 0
New Zealand 1st Innings
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Tom Latham
c Nissanka b Fernando
2 5 6 0 0 40.00
Devon Conway
c de Silva b Jayasuriya
9 21 35 0 0 42.85
Kane Williamson
c de Silva b Jayasuriya
7 53 61 0 0 13.20
Ajaz Patel
lbw b Peiris
8 41 64 0 0 19.51
Rachin Ravindra
b Peiris
10 25 26 1 0 40.00
Daryl Mitchell
c Mathews b Jayasuriya
13 15 33 1 1 86.66
Tom Blundell †
c de Silva b Jayasuriya
1 5 4 0 0 20.00
Glenn Phillips
c de Silva b Jayasuriya
0 2 3 0 0 0.00
Mitchell Santner
b Peiris
29 51 50 4 1 56.86
Tim Southee (c)
c de Silva b Jayasuriya
2 6 9 0 0 33.33
William O’Rourke
not out 2 15 25 0 0 13.33
Extras (b 5) 5
Total
39.5 Ov
(RR: 2.20, 155 Mins)
88
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Tom Latham, 0.5 ov), 2-19 (Devon Conway, 8.2 ov), 3-24 (Kane Williamson, 16.6 ov), 4-41 (Rachin Ravindra, 23.5 ov), 5-52 (Ajaz Patel, 25.2 ov), 6-53 (Tom Blundell, 26.1 ov), 7-53 (Glenn Phillips, 26.3 ov), 8-66 (Daryl Mitchell, 30.3 ov), 9-68 (Tim Southee, 32.3 ov), 10-88 (Mitchell Santner, 39.5 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Asitha Fernando
4 1 8
1
2.00 0 0
Nishan Peiris
17.5 3 33
3
1.85 0 0
Prabath Jayasuriya
18 6 42
6
2.33 0 0
New Zealand 2nd Innings (Following on)
Batting R B 4s 6s SR
Tom Latham
c Nissanka b Peiris
0 6 0 0 0.00
Devon Conway
c †Chandimal b de Silva
61 62 10 1 98.38
Kane Williamson
c sub (RTM Mendis) b Peiris
46 58 4 0 79.31
Rachin Ravindra
b Peiris
12 24 1 0 50.00
Daryl Mitchell
c Nissanka b Jayasuriya
1 5 0 0 20.00
Tom Blundell †
not out 47 50 4 2 94.00
Glenn Phillips
not out 32 41 0 2 78.04
Extras 0
Total
41 Ov
(RR: 4.85)
199/5
Yet to bat:
Mitchell Santner,
Tim Southee (c),
Ajaz Patel,
William O’Rourke
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Tom Latham, 0.6 ov), 2-97 (Devon Conway, 18.6 ov), 3-110 (Kane Williamson, 22.2 ov), 4-113 (Daryl Mitchell, 23.6 ov), 5-121 (Rachin Ravindra, 26.6 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
Nishan Peiris
17 1 91
3
5.35 0 0
Prabath Jayasuriya
17 1 76
1
4.47 0 0
Asitha Fernando
2 0 8 0 4.00 0 0
Milan Rathnayake
2 0 7 0 3.50 0 0
Dhananjaya de Silva
3 0 17
1
5.66 0 0
