SL vs NZ, 2nd Test Day 3: Sri Lanka were just Five Wickets Away from Series Victory
SL vs NZ 2nd Test match was affected by rain due to which the day's play had to be ended prematurely. Till stumps, New Zealand has lost five wickets for 199 runs in the second innings and is still trailing by 315 runs.
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 2nd Test Day 3: The second match of the Test series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka cricket team is being played at Galle Stadium. Sri Lanka batted brilliantly in the first innings of this match. Their three batsmen Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis scored centuries. With their help, the team scored a mountain of 602 runs for 5 wickets and declared the first innings. When Sri Lanka was batting, the pitch looked completely flat but as soon as New Zealand came to bat, the pitch started looking difficult.
New Zealand's first innings ended at just 88 runs. 9 out of 10 wickets were taken by Sri Lankan spinners. Mitchell Santner, who came at number nine, scored the highest 29 runs for New Zealand. The partnership of 20 runs for the last wicket was the biggest for the team. For Sri Lanka, Prabhat Jasuriya took 6 wickets for 42 runs in 18 overs. While off-spinner Nishan Paris took 3 wickets for 33 runs in 17.5 overs.
Sri Lanka has got a lead of 514 runs in the first innings. This is the fifth biggest lead in the first innings in Test history. After taking a lead of 514 runs, Sri Lanka decided to give follow-on to New Zealand. New Zealand needs at least 190 runs to avoid the biggest innings defeat. In the second innings too, New Zealand has lost 5 wickets for 199 runs.
Let us tell you that it seems almost impossible for New Zealand to win the second Test from here. Earlier in the year 2002, something similar happened with New Zealand. When Pakistan gave follow-on to New Zealand team with a lead of 570 runs. With this, New Zealand has become the first team in the history of Test cricket, which has been given follow-on by the opposing team twice after gaining a lead of 500+ runs. Such poor form remains a matter of concern for New Zealand.
Playing XIs
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (C), Kusal Mendis (WK), Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (WK), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (C), Ajaz Patel, William ORourke.
