Sri Lanka were bang on target towards stealing the series from New Zealand as the first two days of the second Test had a telling effect on the visitors.
samaraweera3
New Zealand's sense of urgency on the morning of the first day's play turned into a steady partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera.
Iain O'Brien halted Jayawardene's march for ninety-two but could not prevent Samaraweera from avenging his drought against Pakistan with a blistering 143.
New Zealand did come back into the match with Jeetan Patel taking four wickets and captain Daniel Vettori taking three, however, by then, Sri Lanka had arrived at a solid 416 to show for their first innings' efforts.
Faced with another daunting task, New Zealand ended the second day rather desolately on 159 for five, losing the last two wickets rather ominously to indicate how difficult New Zealand were finding this contest. Martin Guptill may have suffered a lapse in concentration to be dismissed by Thilan Thushara on thirty-five but Ross Taylor was soldiering on on seventy, with a bigger task ahead of New Zealand.
The only ray of sunshine: Vettori joins Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Shane Warne, Chaminda Vaas, and Shaun Pollock in the all rounder's club of 300 Test wickets and 3000 runs.
Murali Chucks, Suggests Richardson
Bond Named in New Zealand's ICC Champions Trophy
Daniel Vettori, Andy Moles Now on Selection Panel
Sl NZ T1 day 5: NZ Succumb, SL Have it Easy
NZ Cricketers Down with Unhappy Belly
SL NZ T1 Day 3 Stumps: NZ Fail to Dig Deeper
SL NZ T1 Day 2: Samaraweera Stretches SL, NZ in Scrape
SL-NZ T1 Day 1 Stumps: NZ in Tough Grind After Early Breakthrough
Trip to the IOB Site 3: Mumbles, Jumble of the Four Letter Kind
India's Team for Tri Series and Champions Trophy Announced
Trip to the IOB Site: Money and The Conundrum of Test Cricket
Trip to the IOB site: Twittering, Murali and the Ashes Battleground
Vettori Confident of Good Performance in Sri Lanka
SL Pak T 3 Preview: Vaas Confirms Retirement, Pak Hope to Make Amends
Related Stories
SA Eng T 3 Days 1&2 Stumps: Match Poised Even After Morkel, Steyn Peg Visitors
It was not an entirely pleasant day, the first day of the third Test between England and South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town. But that was set right by Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn on the second day even as South Africa seem to be sounding out...
NZ Pak T 3 Days 1 & 2: O'Brien, Vettori Set Up Great Opportunity for Hosts
When Iain O'Brien, playing his final Test for New Zealand, plucked out three key Pakistan batsmen for ducks, it was upto the New Zealand batsmen to follow up by putting the visitors under pressure. O'Brien bowled his heart out and the...
Aus Pak T 2 Days 1 & 2 Stumps: Pak Have Massive Lead after Asif's Sixer
Mohammad Asif once again made matters easy for Pakistan by wrecking Australia on the first day of the second Test. But it was the turn of the batsmen to turn on the heat on day two. Australia's fears of a Pakistan backlash turned all too real...
SL Pak T 2 Day 1 Stumps: Sri Lanka Rule and Reign
It was not much of an improvement from Pakistan’s second innings batting at Galle in the first Test as Sri Lanka swept up all the honours on the first day of the second Test at P. Sara Oval in Colombo. One can only imagine...
Virat Kohli And Co. Enjoy Bike Ride before Formula One Racing ( See Pics)
Is it not known that the Indian cricketers can also love demons of speed? Even as some of the Indian cricket team will fly to Noida for the first Formula One Indian Grand Prix, they did enjoy bike rides, although not on the circuit, with the keys firmly w
