Sri Lanka is in New Zealand for the tour of two test matches, three ODI, and three T-20I matches.
If Sri Lanka wins both the test matches against the black caps and India loses the series against Australia, then Sri Lanka will play the test finally.
Match Details
The first test was between Sri Lanka and Australia, played at Christchurch.
New Zealand won the toss and was elected to the field first.
Sri Lanka’s first Innings
Oshada Fernando and Dimuth Karunaratne opened the Innings.
They both struggled to give a great start as Tim Southee gave his an early breakthrough.
After that, the partnership between Dimuth and Kusal added valuable runs as both completed their half-centuries.
The tremendous batting performance by the top order of Sri Lanka took them to a respectable total of 355 runs.
Tim Southee took a haul of five wickets, whereas Matt Henry took four wickets.
New Zealand’s first Innings
Tom Latham and Devon Conway opened the Innings for them.
The fifty by Tom gave them a stable start as Sri Lankan bowlers struck.
New Zealand lost five wickets by the end of day 2 and was in trouble.
Daryl Mitchell came as a savior on day three.
He started to play outstanding knocks across the circle.
He soon even completed his half-century and kept on going.
No other batsmen were supporting him much when Matt came into bat.
The partnership saved them when Matt completed his half-century and Daryl completed his century.
Their partnership brought the New Zealand team a lead, the same team which failed to achieve the total on day two.
New Zealand was at a tad lead of 18 runs when they got all out.
Sri Lanka’s second Innings
The same pair opened the Innings for the Sri Lankan team.
They both were playing slowly and weren’t rushing and saving their wickets.
Blair Tickner came as a nightmare for the top order of the Sri Lankan team.
He alone took three wickets from the top order of Sri Lanka by the end of day three.
At the end of day, three SriLanka is at a total of 83/3 and a lead of 65 runs.
Daryl Mitchell full of praise for Blair Tickner after the @CentralStags bowler took 3-28 on Day 3 at Hagley Oval 🏏 @NZvSL pic.twitter.com/MVdmldgDEN
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 11, 2023