New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Second Test

Seddon Park, Hamilton

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, BE Congdon, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
Sri Lanka: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, AP Gurusinha, RL Dias, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, +HM Goonatilleke, RJ Ratnayake, ALF de Mel.

Debuts: HM Goonatilleke (SL)
Umpires: DR Shepherd (ENG) & D Sang Hue (WI)
Toss: New Zealand

Sri Lanka's injury crisis continued ahead of the second Test - Rumesh Ratnayake and Gurusinha returned but Dharmasena (shoulder) and, crucially, Aravinda de Silva (finger) were ruled out - and wicket keeper Mahes Goonatilleke made his debut after being hurriedly flown out to bolster the squad. John Reid won the toss for an unchanged New Zealand, and two days of hard toil later Goonatilleke must have been wishing he had stayed at home as the Kiwis surpassed the record total that they had posted in the previous game, although to his credit he only conceded one bye out of a mammoth total of 623.

All this came after the hosts had been reduced to 139-4 midway through the first afternoon, at which time Sri Lanka looked like they could really make inroads into the match. The pitch was not to blame though, and New Zealand's fifth wicket pair of Donnelly and Reid batted faultlessly in compiling a partnership of 230, a national record for any wicket. Both players made centuries, Donnelly extending his to a dominant 151, and Sri Lanka's attack looked wholly impotent as the runs flowed. The scoreboard read 369-5 when de Silva finally broke through by bowling Reid on the stroke of lunch on day two, and it had moved round to 475-8 when Jack Cowie joined Ian Smith at the crease shortly before tea. New Zealand's ninth wicket pair then proceeded to rub salt into what were already deep Sri Lankan wounds by equalling the ATG record with a partnership of 124 before Smith fell to the third new ball just seven short of a maiden hundred, and Cowie was able to raise his first ever fifty in partnership with last man Howarth as the Sri Lankans were brought to their metaphorical and, in some cases, literal knees.

Jack Cowie poses with his wonderbat!

Sri Lanka began their reply on the third morning, and as only could have been be expected they crumbled under the sheer weight of all those Kiwi runs. New Zealand bowled well, but the level of application and belief shown by the tourists was disappointing to say the least, with Gurusinha's dismissal typifying Sri Lanka's plight. He top-edged a catch off an ill-advised hook shot having made 59 when he should have been aiming for 159, and it was not until a gallant last wicket stand of 58 between Goonatilleke and de Mel that we saw anything like the type of attitude that was needed.

An all out total of 249 allowed John Reid to enforce the follow-on for the first time in New Zealand's history, and with a deficit of 374 it was the same story in Sri Lanka's second innings as the top order all got in only to get themselves out when set. Rain sent the match into a fifth day with Hashan Tillakaratne the last remaining hope for the tourists, and although he managed to complete his fifty, Hadlee and Cowie reduced the innings from 200-5 to 207-9 as the new ball cut a swathe through the tail on the final morning, Hadlee picking up his third five wicket haul of the Antipodean summer. The Blackcaps were made to wait until after lunch to claim the final wicket, but when Goonatilleke edged Cowie behind the party could finally begin, and although the opposition had only been Sri Lanka, New Zealand's first ever series victory in this, the sixth season of ATG cricket, was still a cause for celebration. Sri Lanka now head home for a one-off Test against Australia, whilst New Zealand will be able to look forward to next season, as they always seem to do, with a reserved air of optimism.

Hadlee's last five Tests have brought him
37 wickets and, finally, an elusive series victory

Score Summary
NZL 1st Inns 623 (Donnelly 151, Reid 114, Smith 93, Cowie 59, Congdon 42; Ratnayeke 4-136)
SL 1st Inns 249 (Gurusinha 59, Goonatilleke 42*)
SL 2nd Inns 217 (Tillakaratne 55, Hathurusingha 54; Hadlee 5-52, Cowie 4-61)

NEW ZEALAND WON BY AN INNINGS & 157 RUNS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - New Zealand 1st innings 319-4 (Donnelly 93*, Reid 86*; 95 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 623 (171 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 244-9 (Goonatilleke 42*, de Mel 18*; 90 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 171-5 (Tillakaratne 37*, de Silva 7*; 66 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 217 (98.4 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ New Zealand's series victory is the first in their history
▪ New Zealand's 623 is their highest ever total
▪ Donnelly & Reid's fifth wicket partnership of 230 is New Zealand's highest for any wicket
▪ Smith & Cowie's partnership of 124 equals the world record for the ninth wicket
▪ New Zealand enforced the follow-on for the first time in their history
▪ Goonatilleke and de Mel's partnership of 58 is a Sri Lankan record for the tenth wicket
▪ Crowe made his 50th appearance for New Zealand

Man of the Match: MP Donnelly

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - First Test

Carisbrook, Dunedin

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, BE Congdon, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
Sri Lanka: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, +HP Tillakaratne, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, ALF de Mel, CPH Ramanayake.

Debuts: CPH Ramanayake (SL)
Umpires: DR Shepherd (ENG) & D Sang Hue (WI)
Toss: New Zealand

Injury-hit Sri Lanka entered their first ever Test against New Zealand with only eleven fit players, and on a flat track New Zealand racked up the highest total in their history before John Reid declared at tea on the second day, leaving himself undefeated on 130 out of a mammoth 576-7. Turner had earlier contributed 107 as he and Dempster put on 170 for the first wicket, and Congdon was denied a century on recall when, on 99, he was caught at short leg off DS de Silva. Ranatunga was on the defensive in the field from an early stage, and whilst the boundaries may have been protected the runs kept coming. Congdon and Donnelly added 145 for the fourth wicket and then Reid and Cairns piled on 168, New Zealand's second best sixth wicket partnership, both players recording their highest ever scores in the process.

All that net practice paid off for John Reid

Sri Lanka fought back well in reply to New Zealand's huge total, Mahanama's typically flamboyant 75 getting them off to a fine start, and following his dismissal during a rain-shortened morning session Aravinda de Silva took over with stroke play that became ever more audacious as his innings progressed. He took just eight balls to move from 77 to 100 and then followed this up by lofting Hadlee for consecutive sixes as the tourists moved on to a relatively healthy 276-4 by tea on the third day. Reid took the new ball at this stage, and under the cloud cover that had hung around for most of the day, wickets started to fall. Chris Cairns bowled superbly to snare the best figures of his fledgling ATG career, but the last pair of de Mel and the debutant Ramanayake managed to cling on into the fourth day, and a tenth wicket stand of 32 saved the follow-on as Sri Lanka reached 382, their highest ever total.

New Zealand still had a lead of 194, and quick runs were now the order of the day if the Blackcaps were going to have enough time to bowl out the tourists for a second time on the final day. The Sri Lankans bowled well though, and only Crowe was truly able to dominate with an undefeated 71 as New Zealand made their way to a rather ponderous 209-6 before Reid declared with an hour's play remaining on the fourth evening. DS de Silva extracted three lbw decisions from Douglas Sang Hue, including Donnelly first ball, to hinder New Zealand's progress, and the Sri Lankans were presented with a target of 404 off a minimum of 103 overs to record their first ever ATG Test victory. Their attempt started disastrously when Mahanama and Dias were dispatched with just six runs on the board, but Hathurusingha and Aravinda de Silva rallied with a third wicket partnership of 142 and the chase was on.

Aravinda de Silva batted beautifully
for Sri Lanka in both innings

De Silva was not quite as fluent as in the first innings but he still managed to pick his way to his second century of the match, and although he was out shortly afterwards a tea time score of 241-4 meant that the tourists retained an outside chance of victory. Sri Lanka's tactics changed after the break though, and their switch to a defensive mindset actually played into New Zealand's hands as Reid was able to attack with the new ball. Cairns delivered a remarkable spell of 3-0 in twelve balls as five wickets tumbled for just sixteen runs, and with the haven of a draw in sight Sri Lanka now looked like falling at the final hurdle.

The last pair of de Mel and Ramanayake had done their team proud in the first innings, and with the scoreboard reading 286-9 they would now need to survive for 41 balls if the tourists were to escape with the draw. Ball beat bat on numerous occasions but for the second time in the match they held on, and when de Mel jammed his bat down on Reid's final delivery the Sri Lankans celebrated as if they had won the match. Once again New Zealand had let a possible victory slip through their fingers, and it will be a case of winner takes all when the teams meet in Hamilton for the second and final Test.

New Zealand were unable to force victory
despite the all round efforts of Chris Cairns

Score Summary
NZL 1st Inns 576-7 dec. (Reid 130*, Turner 107, Congdon 99, Dempster 88, Donnelly 82, Cairns 57)
SL 1st Inns 382 (PA de Silva 131, Mahanama 75; Cairns 4-84)
NZL 2nd Inns 209-6 dec. (Crowe 71*, Dempster 63)
SL 2nd Inns 296-9 (PA de Silva 105, Hathurusingha 72, Ranatunga 58)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - New Zealand 1st innings 330-3 (Congdon 59*, Donnelly 68*; 101 ov)
Day 2 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 99-1 (Mahanama 61*, Dias 7*; 29 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lanka 1st innings 363-9 (de Mel 14*, Ramanayake 5*; 109 ov)
Day 4 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 48-2 (Hathurusingha 20*, PA de Silva 22*; 15 ov)
Day 5 - Sri Lanka 2nd innings 296-9 (105 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Sri Lanka avoided defeat for the first time in six attempts
▪ New Zealand's 576-7 is their highest ever total
▪ Sri Lanka's 382 is their highest ever total
▪ Congdon passed 2000 career runs
▪ Aravinda de Silva is the eighth player, and the first Sri Lankan, to score two hundreds in a Test

Man of the Match: PA de Silva

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Tour Match

South Island v Sri Lankans
University Oval, Dunedin
3 Day Game
Umpires: DEA Copps & WT Martin
Toss: Sri Lankans

South Island: GT Dowling, *WA Hadlee, KR Rutherford, BF Hastings, NJ Astle, V Pollard, +WK Lees, TB Burtt, DR Hadlee, FJ Cameron, SB O'Connor.
Sri Lankans: RS Mahanama, UC Hathurusingha, RL Dias, PA de Silva, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, CPH Ramanayake, GP Wickramasinghe.

Sri Lanka's warm up game ahead of their two Test series against New Zealand was a turgid affair, played on a flat, unyielding surface in front of a sparse crowd at the University Oval. Roy Dias played the stand-out innings on the opening day, his 114 reviving the tourists' fortunes after they had slumped to 29-3, and his fourth wicket partnership of 179 with skipper Arjuna Ranatunga (84) underlined just what a toil it all was for the bowlers on this pitch. Tillakaratne and Kaluwitharana added a further 108 in enterprising fashion before stumps, and an overnight declaration closed the innings on 365-6, a total that the South Islanders would go on to match exactly over the course of the next four sessions.

A century from Roy Dias was one of few
highlights in a dull tour opener in Dunedin

Dowling dropped anchor to record a dour 84, and with Sri Lanka's attack looking every bit as toothless as their Kiwi counterparts, Rutherford, Astle and Lees all helped themselves to fifties, although it must be said that the visitors' bowlers did at least manage to keep the scoring rate down, with Wickramasinghe looking the pick of the bunch. Walter Hadlee declared at lunch on the final day with the scores level, and although the Sri Lankans wobbled somewhat in their second innings, stumbling to tea at 64-4, a robust 41 from Ranatunga allayed any fears of an embarrassing collapse and the game petered out into an inevitable draw, the tourists having crawled to 155-7 before rain ended proceedings mercifully early for the few spectators that had stayed on. The teams remain in Dunedin for the first Test, which is to be played at Carisbrook, and one can only hope that the Tests serve up more entertaining fare than the cricket that was on display here.

Score Summary
SL 1st Inns 365-6 dec. (Dias 114, Ranatunga 84, Tillakaratne 77*, Kaluwitharana 55)
SI 1st Inns 365-6 dec. (Dowling 84, Astle 83, Rutherford 63, Lees 57*)
SL 2nd Inns 155-7 (Ranatunga 41)

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of Play

Day 1 - Sri Lankans 1st innings 365-6 (Tillakaratne 77*, Ratnayeke 11*; 96 ov)
Day 2 - South Island 1st innings 257-5 (Astle 26*, Lees 6*; 92 ov)
Day 3 - Sri Lankans 2nd innings 155-7 (65.5 ov) - end of match

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Series Preview

On face value a battle of the basement between ATG cricket's two lowest ranked teams is unlikely to whet many appetites, but in actual fact the two Tests that make up the series should provide plenty of competitive action for both the committed and the casual spectator alike. For New Zealand, this is their best chance yet of securing a first ever ATG series victory, whilst the Sri Lankans will be looking to avoid defeat for the first time after losing each of their first five Tests.

The New Zealand selectors are expected to retain faith with the majority of the squad that was engaged against West Indies, but John Reid's position is under review once again after a poor personal performance in that series and an overall record that now reads just three wins in thirty three Tests as captain, although it must be said that there are few, if any, obvious candidates to take over the reins should the axe fall.

John Reid and Arjuna Ranatunga will both be hoping to lead
their countries to what would be a first ever ATG series win

As for Sri Lanka, this will be the first time that they enter a series with expectation as well as hope, and if their bowlers can at last find some penetration on wickets that should suit them then we could be in for some interesting cricket over the course of the two Tests.

Current form (most recent result first)
New Zealand LDLDL
Sri Lanka LLLLL

Sri Lanka squad
A Ranatunga (c), HP Tillakaratne (v/c), ALF de Mel DS de Silva, PA de Silva, RL Dias, HDPK Dharmasena, AP Gurusinha, UC Hathurusingha, RS Kaluwitharana, RS Mahanama, CPH Ramanayake, RJ Ratnayake, JR Ratnayeke, GP Wickramasinghe.

Itinerary
- Tour Match v South Island (Dunedin)
- 1st TEST (Dunedin)
- 2nd TEST (Hamilton)

New Zealand v West Indies - Series Summary

WEST INDIES WON THE SERIES 2-0
West Indies made it a magnificent seven consecutive series wins with their expected victory over New Zealand, but had Garry Sobers' team been up against stronger opponents then it could well have been a different story. Time and again the West Indian top order failed - Fredericks, Haynes and Kanhai recorded just one fifty between them and averaged less than fifteen as a unit - and only the form of Sobers and Worrell coupled with a tail that defied expectations with the bat kept the tourists afloat. Worrell was truly magnificent on his recall to the side, and his partnerships with Sobers, which were worth an average of 97.67, really proved to be a major difference between the teams.

A depleted West Indian attack supported each other well as a unit - Walsh, Garner, Griffith and Sobers shared 46 wickets evenly between them - with Hall proving the only real disappointment, but the same cannot be said of New Zealand, for whom Richard Hadlee ploughed an increasingly lone furrow as the series went on. Cowie bowled well in Wellington but faded thereafter, and by the end of the series Hadlee had captured 25 wickets compared to a combined haul of 28 for the remainder of New Zealand's attack. John Reid endured an anonymous series with the ball, but with Chris Cairns making little impact on debut, Reid is expected to retain his place in the side for the Sri Lanka Tests.

Despite its failings in the final innings in both Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand's batting looks in reasonable shape ahead of those matches, with Turner, Donnelly and Dempster all putting in good performances over the course of this series. There remains a vacancy at number three though, and Bevan Congdon is expected to be recalled to fill the berth against Sri Lanka. West Indies now head home to prepare for the visit of India, and all things point to them retaining their number one ranking come the end of that series.

Series Averages
(click to enlarge)

Players of the Series: RJ Hadlee & FMM Worrell