2nd Test
Day-1 Afternoon Session Highlights:
Dinesh Chandimal’s century has put the Sri Lanka team in a command position
At The Tea of Day-1:
Sri Lanka scored 194/2 vs New Zealand.
Sri Lanka seized control of the opening day in Galle with a commanding afternoon session, adding 92 runs for the loss of just one wicket and reaching 194/2 at Tea.
The only wicket to fall during this session was Dimuth Karunaratne, who was run out by his partner Dinesh Chandimal while on 46.
Aside from that incident, Chandimal had plenty to celebrate in the afternoon, including his first century against New Zealand and his 16th overall in Test cricket.
New Zealand struggled on a pitch that had become more favorable compared to the first session.
They thought they had a breakthrough when Angelo Mathews was given out caught behind, but a DRS review showed that William O’Rourke had overstepped.
The spinners found little assistance in the afternoon, with Ajaz Patel bowling a negative line outside leg stump to the right-handers.
Earlier in the morning, Sri Lanka enjoyed a flawless opening session after winning the toss, quickly putting together a century partnership.
The only wicket that fell was Pathum Nissanka, who was caught behind off Tim Southee.
Although New Zealand’s spinners found some turn early on the dry surface, they missed several opportunities.
Karunaratne was lucky to survive a dropped catch off O’Rourke at first slip, where the usually reliable Daryl Mitchell put down an easy chance.
He received another reprieve later when he advanced down the pitch against Ajaz Patel but was beaten, and Tom Blundell missed a sharp stumping opportunity.
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