sports news,In Sri Lanka Test ,Rachin Ravindra
After day four of the first Test on Sunday, New Zealand’s chances of winning against Sri Lanka were slim thanks to rookie left-hander Rachin Ravindra’s undefeated 91. The tourists needed another 68 runs with two wickets remaining. With spinner Ajaz Patel on nought and a goal of 275,
New Zealand was 207-8 at stumps and would resume with Ravindra on Monday. In Galle, where the Black Caps have lost all four of their previous Test matches, Ramesh Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya shared three wickets apiece on a pitch that was turning fast. Ravindra’s knock surpassed Ross Taylor’s 89 in 2019 as the highest score by a New Zealander at the stadium.
The left-hander looked good on a track that favoured spin, but he was not well-supported by other batters; Tom Blundell and Kane Williamson shared the next highest scores, both with thirty runs.
Before Blundell’s 56-run partnership with Ravindra momentarily restored hopes before the latter was bowled by Jayasuriya, the tourists had lost four wickets by tea.
Additionally, Jayasuriya got the crucial wicket of Williamson for thirty runs. Kusal Mendis, the wicketkeeper, lured the former captain out of his crease and stumped him.
While Daryl Mitchell was dismissed for eight by Ramesh, Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva trapped opener Tom Latham for 28 runs.
In the first innings, Mitchell, Latham, and Williamson had all scored half-centuries.
With six wickets in the morning, Ajaz Patel contributed to limiting Sri Lanka to 309 runs. With his 6-90, he became the highest scoring bowler from New Zealand in Sri Lanka since Daniel Vettori’s 6-64 in Colombo in 1998.
Due to Sri Lanka’s presidential elections, the match was postponed until Sunday morning, when play began in the absence of spectators.
After lunch, when the election curfew was removed, fans came back.
After starting the day at 237-4, the hosts scored a further 72 runs, with seasoned player Angelo Matthews scoring 50 before committing a straightforward catch to first slip off Patel’s bowling.
Before being bowled by Patel on Friday, Dimuth Karunaratne top-scored for Sri Lanka with 83.
Starting on Thursday, the series’ second and last game will take place at the same location.sports news
