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