Lanka leave New Zealand a daunting task by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Galle International Stadium, Galle
Scorecard:	Sri Lanka v New Zealand
Player:	TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene
Event:	New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009

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DateLine: 21st August 2009

 

Sri Lanka set a mammoth target of 413 for New Zealand win in the two Test series. New Zealand ended the day at 30/1 with Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor at the crease. Daniel Flynn was the man to be dismissed in the first over of the New Zealand reply.

 

Sri Lanka scored 259/4 in the second innings with Tillekeratne Dilshan scoring an aggressive century.

 

New Zealand began the day with two wickets standing with Daniel Vettori as the key batsman. It took Sri Lanka just 10 overs to wrap up the Kiwi innings for 299, acquiring a handy lead of 153 runs. Muttiah Muralitharan and Thilan Thushara shared eight wickets between them with Ajantha Mendis and Nuwan Kulasekara taking a wicket apiece.

 

Sri Lanka in their second innings made their intentions clear as they were on lookout for quick runs. Iain O’Brien got rid of Paranavitana with a beauty but the Kiwi bowlers ran into an aggressive Dilshan who looked to blow away the limited bowling attack.

 

It was a stunning display off batting by Dilshan as he ran beserk. When the bowlers pitched it up he played some beautiful drives, when it was wide and short he cut ferociously to the point fence and it was into his body he was quick to get into a perfect position to execute another pull shot.

 

Pace or spin, nothing seemed to put any sort of shackles on the Lankan opener as he revelled in the opening role to push Kiwis to the brink. Kumar Sangakkara meanwhile began to open up and to deal in boundaries. Dilshan was dropped by substitute Reece Young off Jeetan Patel and he made them to pay.

 

Sangakkara was finally dismissed he backed up too far to be run-out off a straight drive from Dilshan off Vettori. The pair added 101 in 20 overs and Mahela Jayawardene joined a rampaging Dilshan at the crease. He too joined the fun as the pair added 54 runs in 16.5 overs to pile misery on the Kiwis.

 

Patel finally got the wicket off Jayawardene when he popped up a return catch, but Thilan Samaraweera did not waste any time as he opened his innings with a couple of big sixes. He to Vettori and finally Dilshan completed his century which was denied to him in the first innings.

 

Sri Lanka declared during the tea interval and it left New Zealand four sessions to survive. There was a slight drizzle just before New Zealand began their innings but it relented soon. The task to see off the session was made harder as soon as play resumed, with Flynn brilliantly caught by Jayawardene. Guptill and Taylor defended stoutly to prevent further damage, before bad light took the players off.