Sri Lanka beat New Zealand: Here are the records broken
Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in the first Test match by six wickets at Galle. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne amassed a superb century to help Lanka chase down a target of 268. The Lankan team has taken a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. It was a terrific show by the Lankans to down the Kiwis. Here are the records that were broken.
Since 2016, this was the fourth highest fourth innings total chased down by a team in Test cricket. The Lankan team has been part of three successful chases out of these. This was also Sri Lanka's second-best chase at home in a Test since 2016. Their highest chase is 388 versus Zimbabwe in Colombo 2017.
Karunaratne slammed a superb 122 in the second innings. This was the skipper's ninth career Test hundred. He has now raced to 4,235 Test runs at 36.82. He shared a stunning 161-run stand for the first wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne (64). Thirimanne slammed his sixth career Test fifty as well.
Sri Lanka's recent fourth innings victories:
— ICC (@ICC) August 18, 2019
v 🌴 at Bridgetown 👉 won by 4 wickets
v 🇿🇦 at Durban 👉 won by 1 wicket
v 🇿🇦 at Port Elizabeth 👉 won by 8 wickets
v 🇳🇿 at Galle 👉 won by 6 wickets
Which one is your favourite? pic.twitter.com/w2T0wx604w
Ross Taylor smashed a superb 86 in the first innings. The veteran batsman raced to 6,816 Test runs and is closing in on New Zealand's highest run-scorer Stephen Fleming (7,172). This was also the 31st career Test fifty for Taylor. BJ Watling was the highest run-scorer for NZ in the second innings (77). This was his 17th career Test fifty.
Akila Dananjaya picked up a fifer in the first innings (5/80). This was his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests. New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel also impressed everyone with a strong spell of 5/89 in the first innings. This was his second career five-wicket haul. Both the spinners finished with six wickets each in the Test match.
New Zealand were bowled out for 249 in the first innings. Suranga Lakmal and Dananjaya took nine wickets between them. Lanka managed 267 next with a few strong contributions helping them take an 18-run lead. Watling's 77 saw the Kiwis post 285/10 in the second innings. Lanka then got past the target with both their openers shining upfront.
