1st Test
Day-1 Afternoon Session Highlights:
Kamindu’s fightback persists even as New Zealand has claimed three wickets in the session
At The Tea of Day-1:
Sri Lanka scored 178/5 (1st Innings) vs New Zealand.
Kamindu Mendis’ impressive 61* drove Sri Lanka forward in the afternoon session of Day 1 of the Galle Test against New Zealand, despite losing experienced and established batters to soft dismissals.
Sri Lanka hadn’t added to their morning total of 88 for 2 when Dinesh Chandimal fell to Tim Southee just four balls after lunch.
Attempting a flick, the No. 3 batter chipped a catch to the left of square leg.
Dhananjaya de Silva nearly yorked himself before scoring, with a fortunate boundary just evading a diving Michael Bracewell.
His innings was brief, ending when Glenn Phillips delivered a classic off-break that crashed into the Sri Lankan captain’s off-stump.
Having retired hurt four overs before lunch, Angelo Mathews returned to the crease, providing much-needed stability.
Alongside the fluent Mendis, he forged a 72-run partnership to steady the innings.
Despite struggling against O’Rourke, the pair kept the scoreboard moving by capitalizing on loose deliveries.
Mendis received a reprieve on 21 when Phillips misjudged a catch and slipped.
He made the most of this chance, hitting consecutive boundaries off Mitchell Santner with reverse sweeps and treating Ajaz Patel similarly in an expensive 13-run over.
Mendis reached his half-century shortly after Sri Lanka crossed the 150-run mark.
The battle between O’Rourke and Mathews resumed three overs before tea, with a fiery bumper called a no-ball, culminating in Mathews unnecessarily poking at a delivery just before the break.
Earlier in the morning, O’Rourke troubled both openers with his swing, seam, and extra bounce.
Dimuth Karunaratne was dismissed by a back-of-a-length delivery that moved away sharply, while Pathum Nissanka’s boundary-laden cameo ended with an in swinging yorker that shattered his off-stump.
Chandimal and Mathews attempted to rebuild the innings, but O’Rourke’s return saw Mathews suffer a blow to his right hand, leading to his retirement hurt.
Mathews later returned to the field as Sri Lanka faced the loss of two batters in quick succession.
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