The first Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand is evenly poised. New Zealand skipper Tim Southee came up with a magical piece of fielding during the Sri Lankan 2nd innings on the 3rd day.
Pathum Nissanka was batting on 2 when he got a terrific ball from William O Rourke. The Sri Lankan batter fended at the ball only to get a thick outside edge. Tim Southee who was standing in the slips jumped to his right to take a stunning one-handed catch.
New Zealand players ran to their skipper who had taken a blinder to give his team an early advantage. William O Rourke had bowled well in the first innings to take a fifer to bowl out Sri Lanka for 305.
New Zealand eke out a slender lead against Sri Lanka
Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell were batting when New Zealand ended the 2nd day at 255/4. The duo came out to bat with their team still trailing the home team by 50 runs on the third day of the 1st Test.
Just 14 runs were added on the 3rd day as Blundell was the first man to be dismissed for 25. Prabath Jayasuriya got the key wicket when he had Blundell caught by Dhananjaya De Silva.
Glenn Phillips came out all guns blazing as he went after the Sri Lankan bowlers. Daryl Mitchell was out for 57 after he was run out with New Zealand still 14 runs behind. Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee fell in quick succession to Prabath Jayasuriya.
With wickets falling at the other end, Glenn Phillips went on the offensive. The right-handed batter was not out on 49 off 48 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes. Ramesh Mendis got the final two wickets when he dismissed Ajaz Patel for 6 and William O Rourke for 2.
After losing the wicket of Pathum Nissanka, the Sri Lankan batters decided to play positive cricket. Veteran opener Dimuth Karunaratne scored 4 boundaries as he was batting on 29 off 39 balls. Keeping him company was Dinesh Chandimal who was on 7 runs from 30 balls.
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