Sri Lanka batters shine on Day 1 of Test series
Sri Lanka batters score big on Day 1 of first Test against New Zealand in World Test Championship campaign
On Thursday, Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis and captain Dimuth Karunaratne led the way with half-centuries as they reached 305 for six before bad light stopped play early on Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand. With the chance to reach the World Test Championship final if they win both Tests against the Black Caps and Australia deny India victory in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, Sri Lanka’s strong performance is a positive start to their campaign. New Zealand captain Tim Southee won the toss and chose to put his bowlers to work on a green-tinged pitch at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval, but it backfired as Mendis and Karunaratne put on a 137-run stand for the second wicket. Southee was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts, having opener Oshada Fernando caught down the leg-side for 13 and Dinesh Chandimal caught in the slips for 39. Pacer Matt Henry also took two wickets, dismissing Karunaratne (50) and all-rounder Angelo Mathews (47) each caught in the slips, but was unlucky not to have more as he and Southee repeatedly beat the bat in the morning. No.6 Dhananjaya de Silva was batting on 39 along with tail-ender Kasun Rajitha on 16 when play was abandoned late in the final session due to bad light.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee made history when he took his 362nd wicket, surpassing Daniel Vettori into second place on their all-time list of Test wicket-takers behind Richard Hadlee (431). Southee also passed Vettori’s mark of 705 to become New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker across all three formats.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Najmul Hossain Shanto scored a half-century before all-rounder Shakib-al Hasan guided the hosts to a six-wicket win against Twenty20 world champions England on Thursday, in the first match of their three-match series. After being put into bat, England’s openers Jos Buttler (67) and Phil Salt had an 80-run partnership, but the visitors were restricted to 156/6. Hasan Mahmud was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh, taking two wickets, while four of his teammates claimed a wicket apiece. After a brief opening stand between Litton Das and Rony Talukdar, Shanto (51) combined with debutant Towhid Hridoy for 65 runs to give Bangladesh momentum. Shakib came to their rescue again, scoring 34 off 24 in a calm knock under pressure. Bangladesh won the match by six wickets.