Sri Lanka Scent Series Victory as New Zealand 129-5 After Follow-On

AFP/APP

Galle: Sri Lanka were just five wickets away from a crushing second Test and series victory over New Zealand on Saturday, with the tourists at 129-5 at tea on the third day, having followed on after collapsing to 88 all out in their first innings.

Tom Blundell was unbeaten on seven, and Glenn Phillips was on two at the break after debutant off-spinner Nishan Peiris took three top-order wickets.

Devon Conway, battling to save both his team and his place in the side, joined forces with former captain Kane Williamson in a dogged 97-run partnership for the second wicket.

De Silva lured Conway, who had made 61 off 62 balls, into a drive towards the vacant deep cover boundary, which was caught by Dinesh Chandimal in a spectacular backward running catch.

Williamson, the world’s second-ranked batsman behind England’s Joe Root, departed after misjudging a shot off Peiris, with Ramesh Mendis grabbing a tumbling catch at long-on.

Tom Latham was the first wicket to fall before lunch, caught by Pathum Nissanka for a duck at short leg off Peiris, who had earlier taken three first-innings wickets.

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took 6-42 in the first innings for his ninth five-wicket haul. He has a slender chance of claiming six more in the second innings to equal the record for the fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets, a milestone that has stood since 1896 when England’s George Lohmann reached 100 wickets in his 16th Test.

Resuming at a precarious 22-2 in their first innings, New Zealand’s batsmen barely put up a fight. Their highest partnership was the 20 added by the last pair, Mitchell Santner, who top-scored with 29, and William O’Rourke, who made two.

Captain De Silva took five catches at first slip, tying the record for the most in a Test innings by a non-wicketkeeper, a milestone shared with 15 others.