Wellington, New Zealand: Sri Lanka dismissed New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum for a duck Saturday, taking five wickets between lunch and tea on day one to fight its way back into the second cricket test at the Basin Reserve.
Kane Williamson was out for 69 just before the break as New Zealand slumped from 141-2 to 192-7 at tea.McCullum made 195 in his only innings in the first test at Christchurch, laying the foundation for his team's eight-wicket win and 1-0 lead in the two-test series.
New Zealand was at 141-3 when McCullum came to the crease Saturday, but he lasted only two deliveries before being bowled by Suranga Lakmal for his first test duck since August 2012.
Mark Craig and Doug Bracewell were both not out on 5 at the break.New Zealand, who lost the toss and was sent in to bat, appeared to be getting on top of Sri Lanka early before Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep struck a blow to stop the hosts' momentum.
Williamson and Ross Taylor had put on 31 in eight overs for the third wicket by lunch, then dramatically stepped up their scoring rate after the break, adding 48 runs from 47 balls to lift New Zealand to 141 before Taylor was out in the 33rd over.
Both Taylor and McCullum chopped balls back onto their own stumps while trying to play scoring shots from balls that might have been better left or defended.
Williamson tried to steady the New Zealand innings by reaching a half century—his second of the series and 15th of his career—from 75 balls, with eight fours.
He had been at the crease when McCullum blasted his way to 195 from 132 balls on the opening day of the first test. In his partnership with McCullum on Saturday, he was the force behind the hosts' attack until his dismissal 15 minutes from the interval.
Wicketkeeper B.J. Watling fell for 11, caught at slip by Dinesh Chandimal off Angelo Mathews, then Williamson fell in the manner of McCullum and Taylor, chopping a ball from Dhammika Prasad onto his stumps.
Earlier in the innings, New Zealand lost its openers in quick succession when Tom Latham was dismissed on 6 and Hamish Rutherford 37. Both batters were out to catches by wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, misjudging the line of deliveries when the ball was seaming slightly.
Jimmy Neesham was also dismissed in the manner of the openers, taking the outside edge of a ball from Pradeep that seamed away and providing Jayawardene with his third catch of the innings.
