SL vs NZ: Sri Lanka’s Dominant Batting Shines in Test

Sri Lanka 519 for 5 (Kamindu 135, Mathews 88, Kusal 70, de Silva 44, Phillips 3-116) vs New Zealand

Sri Lanka took firm control of the Test match after lunch, as Kamindu Mendis notched up his fifth Test century in just his 13th innings. Kusal Mendis also reached his 20th half-century, and the pair added 117 runs during the session.

Sri Lanka’s dominance is evident, having lost as many wickets as the number of sessions they’ve batted. Their score stands at 519 for 5, with the pitch starting to favor the spinners as the afternoon progressed. The all-Mendis partnership marked their third-century stand of the innings, adding to a 97-run and a 74-run partnership earlier in the innings. Kamindu followed Chandimal, who had scored 116 on the first day, becoming the second centurion of the match for Sri Lanka.

New Zealand’s bowling attack has been punished heavily. Ajaz Patel has given away 135 runs without a wicket, while Mitchell Santner has been more economical, conceding 82 runs but failing to take a wicket. They are just 11 overs away from claiming a third new ball.

Missed Opportunities for New Zealand

In the afternoon session, New Zealand had only one real chance to break Sri Lanka’s momentum. Ajaz beat Kamindu with a sharply turning delivery, but wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, who has had an underwhelming series, failed to gather the ball, allowing Kamindu to survive on 112. New Zealand also reviewed an LBW decision against Kamindu when he was on 105, but the ball was shown to be missing leg stump. He was also given out caught behind on 113, but a review showed the ball had brushed his pad, not his bat.

After lunch, the bowling was tight, especially against Kusal, who struggled to score boundaries. At one point, he was stuck at 19 from 60 balls with just one boundary. Glenn Phillips and Santner bowled economically, while Ravindra kept things tidy. Sri Lanka seemed to focus on attacking Ajaz Patel more aggressively, with Kamindu regularly stepping down the pitch to target him.

Three times in the session, they hit Ajaz for sixes — Kamindu hitting one over long-on, followed by Kusal’s two over deep midwicket.

Kamindu went to tea with 957 Test runs in total. If he manages to score another 43 runs, he will become the fastest batter to reach 1000 Test runs since 1950, based on innings played.

Morning Session: New Zealand Strikes

In the morning session, Phillips was New Zealand’s most effective bowler. He got a delivery to bounce on Angelo Mathews, who top-edged a sweep to short fine leg, getting out for 88. Phillips also took another wicket just before lunch, with Dhananjaya de Silva top-edging a ball, which was caught by Blundell at short leg.

Kamindu started the day on 51 and smoothly progressed to 93 by lunch. When he reached his century in the afternoon, his celebrations were as subdued as always.

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