Sri Lanka complete demolition of New Zealand to take 1-0 lead

• Prabath Jayasuriya continues to be unplayable at Galle
• Sri Lanka leapfrog New Zealand to 3rd place in WTC standings

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

22 balls were all that was needed on the fifth and final day for Sri Lanka to pick up the two remaining New Zealand wickets and complete the final rites on the first cricket Test as they won by a comprehensive margin of 63 runs at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday to go 1-up in the two-match series.

The win saw Sri Lanka leapfrog over New Zealand to 3rd place in the ICC World Test Championship standings, putting themselves in line for a possible spot in the final at Lord’s next year. 

It was always going to be tough getting those 68 runs yesterday morning. New Zealand’s hopes pinned on Rachin Ravindra, who was 91* overnight, but the left-hander couldn’t see it through on a day five pitch with the ball doing so much. He was trapped lbw by Prabath Jayasuriya adding just one run to his score. After that it was a case of Sri Lanka completing the formalities as Jayasuriya drifted one wide off the crease to beat the outside edge of no. 11 Will O’Rourke to clip the top of his off stump as New Zealand were dismissed for 211. There were no big celebrations as Sri Lanka completed back-to-back Test wins having defeated England at the Oval a fortnight back.

Jayasuriya who was named Player of the Match signed off with match figures of 9/204 which included his 8th five-wicket innings haul and 7th at Galle. He has reigned supreme at Galle like his predecessors Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath both of whom have over 100 Test wickets at this venue. His spin partner Ramesh Mendis ended up with a match bag of six and they both are neck and neck with 62 Test wickets each at Galle. 

“The turning point from our side was our batting approach,” said Sri Lanka Captain Dhananjaya de Silva. “The way Dimuth (Karunaratne), Chandi (Dinesh Chandimal) and Angie (Angelo Mathews) batted was crucial. We batted well in the second innings, but we were disappointing in the first innings.”

“We wanted to move Kamindu (Mendis) who was batting at 7 up the order to 5 so we asked Chandimal to bat at 3. Now that he has moved up, we are in a position to settle the batting order. I don’t think this batting unit needs to change. A lot of them have scored runs but consistency is perhaps lacking.”

“After Sanath Jayasuriya took over (as interim head coach) we have done a few tactical changes. He shares his experience and tactical moves. The way he explains, it is easy for us to identify areas where we need improve. It is the best thing that you can get out from a local coach.”

De Silva said that it took some time for his bowlers to overcome Sri Lankan conditions after returning from England and they were the underprepared side. 

“New Zealand were in India and they were used to conditions. Prabath (Jayasuriya) adapted quickly but Ramesh (Mendis) needs to improve. If Ramesh can improve and bowl like Prabath we can win games easily. I didn’t have much of an idea to bowl. I gave Ramesh the ball and he bowled in and out, not up to expectations. That’s why I had to bowl. I know my skill. When I bowl in conditions like in Sri Lanka, it is a good option.” 

“The first innings I don’t think we bowled and batted well. We let New Zealand get away. We need to polish that area. Fielding is important too. Every run stopping is important. As this game showed every run counted. I think it is a very long time that a Test match in Galle has gone into five days so the credit should also be given to New Zealand for making a fight of it.”

New Zealand’s losing captain Tim Southee expressed his views how tough a place it is to come to the subcontinent and play.

“It was a good Test match but disappointed with the result. On this wicket, it was a great effort. You look at any game and there are moments. We lost 5 wickets for not many in the first innings after being in a strong position. We could’ve got a few more out of the tailenders after the position we got ourselves in,” said Southee. ‘The toss is very important in this part of the world, would have been great to make first use of a wicket like this. But as we saw, there’s no reason we couldn’t have come out here and won, if we had managed to get a bigger first innings lead. We know it’s obviously a challenge for us, but in this part of the world, the later the Test goes, the tougher it becomes, so that was a big moment.”

On the innings played by Rachin Ravindra, Southee said, “I know he is magnificent player. He played here for the first time. He must be very, very excited about it. We’ve been excited for a while. We saw glimpses back in New Zealand of his capabilities and what he’s got. He’s got a lot of attributes that sets him up for a lot of success at this level. We’ve seen that in the short sample size.”

The second Test starts at the same venue on 

26 September.