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Match hangs in balance courtesy of Sri Lanka's lower-order fightback despite Ajaz Patel's fifer

Angelo Mathews scored a half-century on day 2
Angelo Mathews scored a half-century on day 2
©Reuters
By Saksham Mishra

At 161-7, it looked as if Sri Lanka might concede a big first-innings lead but wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella joined hands with Suranga Lakmal to put up a brave front.


Match Summary: Day 2

New Zealand - 249 [Ross Taylor 86(131), Henry Nicholls 42(78); Dananjaya 5/80, Lakmal 4/29]

Sri Lanka - 227/7 (80.0 Overs) [Kusal Mendis 53(89), Mathews 50(98); Ajaz Patel 5/76, Boult 1/24]

Sri Lanka trail by 22 runs



After Suranga Lakmal did not allow Ross Taylor to add any runs to his overnight score of 86 and Mitchell Santner was also dismissed soon after, the Kiwis could not add any more than 46 runs to their overnight total.

Akila Dananjaya had picked up five-wicket haul on day 1 and Suranga Lakmal accounted for the remaining four wickets, with Tim Southee being run out.

Sri Lanka then got off to a decently good start with openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne adding 27 for the first wicket. Their main partnership was between Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews for the third wicket as both scored half-centuries but nothing more.



This is something that Sri Lanka will be disappointed about. Both Mendis and Mathews were looking good in the middle and at least one should have gone to make a century, but Ajaz Patel then spun a web around the Sri Lankan team as they were reduced to 161-7.

At that point, it looked as if Sri Lanka might concede a big first-innings lead but wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella then joined hands with Suranga Lakmal to put up a brave front. The Lions did not lose any more wickets till the day came to a close, with Sri Lanka at 227-7 and still trailing by 22 runs.

The new ball will be available to the New Zealand bowlers first thing on day 3 and they would have to dismiss the Sri Lankan tail quickly in order to stamp their authority on the match.

Sri Lanka- Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Embuldeniya, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara

New Zealand- Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, William Somerville, Trent Boult, Ajaz Patel

©Cricket World 2019