2nd Test: Pacers put Sri Lanka on backfoot as New Zealand dominate rain-hit Day 2
Cricket | August 23, 2019 18:36 ISTLess than 30 overs of play was possible after a late start as rain arrived minutes before lunch and disrupted further play.
Less than 30 overs of play was possible after a late start as rain arrived minutes before lunch and disrupted further play.
Only 36.3 overs were possible after early rain and a wet outfield caused a delayed start and bad light resulted in an early finish.
Watling was on 63, and William Somerville on 5, when bad light stopped play 15 minutes before the scheduled close with New Zealand 195-7.
Sri Lanka slumped to 161/7, losing five wickets for 18 runs, before Niroshan Dickwella and No. 9 batsman Suranga Lakmal added an unbeaten 66-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
The home team won despite having been dismissed for 178 in the first innings, that total made competitive by lower-order batsman Tim Southee's 68. Southee was named player of the match.
Sri Lanka were 231/6 at stumps on Day 4, still trailing New Zealand by 428 runs with a full day ahead.
Latham made 176 following his 264 in the first Test at Wellington; Nicholls made an unbeaten 162, his highest Test score and De Grandhomme dashed the fastest 50 by a New Zealander in Tests.
Jeet Raval (74) and Tom Latham (74 not out) completed half centuries and Kane Williamson made 48 as New Zealand finished the day at 231/2, with an overall lead of 305.
Boult's first five wickets came faster than any other bowler in Test history; from 11 balls, beating Jacques Kallis's record of 12 balls against Bangladesh in 2002.
Suranga Lakmal was the principal wicket-taker for Sri Lanka, returning Test-best figures of 5/54 and adding a catch which brought New Zealand's insipid innings to an end after only 50 overs.
New Zealand was frustrated that rain ruined their push for a 1-0 series lead Wednesday.
The twin centuries were a coming of age for one player, a redemption for the other.
Latham's score was the highest by any batsman who has carried his bat in Test history.
New Zealand began by ending Sri Lanka's first innings three overs after its resumption at 275-9.
On balance, New Zealand won the first session, Sri Lanka the second and the third was shared thanks to Dickwella's late flurry of boundaries.
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