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topicnews · September 23, 2024

SL vs. NZ 2024, report on the 1st test match SL vs. NZ, 18 – 23 September 2024

SL vs. NZ 2024, report on the 1st test match SL vs. NZ, 18 – 23 September 2024

Sri Lanka 305 (Kamindu 114, O’Rourke 5-55, Phillips 2-52) and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Ajaz 6-90, O’Rourke 3-49) beat New Zealand 340 (Latham 70, Jayasuriya 4-136, Ramesh 3-101) and 211 (Ravindra 92, Jayasuriya 5-68, Ramesh 3-83) by 63 runs

Sri Lanka did not take long to decide matters on the final morning in Galle, taking just 15 minutes to take the last two New Zealand wickets and secure a 63-run victory in the first Test. The result means Sri Lanka take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series and New Zealand move up to third place in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table.
Prabath Jayasuriya spearheaded Sri Lanka’s attack and finished with figures of 5 for 68 – his eighth five-wicket haul and his seventh in Galle. He finished with figures of 9 for 204 and was adjudged the player of the match.
After batting so hard the previous day, Rachin Ravindra lasted just eight deliveries in the first session of the final morning when Jayasuriya trapped him with an arm ball for 92 off 168 balls in front. Coming round the wicket, Jayasuriya bowled a ball to leg as Ravindra was caught in the crease playing down the wrong line. He checked the ball but when it was confirmed that he was bowling down the right line, he was beyond saving.

And any last hope of a famous rearguard was quickly dashed when Will O’Rourke fended off just five balls before the sixth ball slipped past his forward defence and onto the off stump, giving Jayasuriya his fifth wicket of the innings.

O’Rourke was not entirely happy with the outcome of the match after putting in an impressive performance and ending up with eight wickets to his name – the second most in the entire Test and the same number as Ajaz Patel.

As for the impact of this result on the WTC, it keeps Sri Lanka’s underdog hopes of a place in the final alive. For New Zealand, however, the task becomes much more difficult, with an away series against India and a home series against England in the next few months.

Neither team has time to think about this result, as there are only two days’ rest before the second test – also in Galle – begins on Thursday.

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