Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 1st Test: Ravindra’s Heroic Effort Keeps New Zealand’s Chase Alive, Sri Lanka on Verge of Victory
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 4 Updates: Rachin Ravindra’s heroic half-century has kept New Zealand’s hopes alive in a suspenseful Day 4 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
The visitors are trailing by eight wickets and need 68 more runs to complete their total of 275. While Sri Lanka’s spinners are under constant pressure and the Galle pitch is gradually deteriorating, Ravindra’s undefeated 91 has given New Zealand a chance, but their chances are very much in doubt.
Key Performances and Match scorecard
New Zealand 340 and 207 for 8 (Ravindra 91*, Jayasuriya 3-66, Ramesh Mendis 3-83) need another 68 runs to beat Sri Lanka 305 and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Chandimal 61, Ajaz 6-90).
Match Analysis
In an attempt to reach their target of 275 runs, New Zealand managed to score 194 runs in the last two sessions of day four, spearheaded by Rachin Ravindra. However, due to the Galle surface rapidly degrading and constant pressure from Sri Lanka’s spinners, they now only have two wickets remaining to score the final 68 runs.
Ravindra was unbeaten at stumps with 91, but he was quickly losing companionship. Ajaz Patel narrowly made it to stumps. Without a sure, New Zealand will be hoping to win this pursuit, but given the characteristics of the surface, it won’t be simple.
Thus, this was a day that belonged to the spinners, beginning with Ajaz’s five wickets in the morning session (he finished with six wickets for ninety) and culminating with three wickets apiece from Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis. 13 of the 14 wickets that fell during the day were due to spin.
However, Sri Lanka emerged victorious at the end of a day when the pendulum received a good workout. They took four wickets in the last session, which was mainly responsible for it.
But that was not quite how it had begun, as New Zealand emerged from the tea break with fresh determination. The session began with Sri Lanka moving at the pace of Lahiru Kumara from one end, but that was a misplaced tactic as Tom Blundell and Ravindra ripped through his shortish lengths for 14 in an over. After then, there was a burst of fast runs, with Ramesh being targeted for two boundaries in the next over.
Blundell and Ravindra soon added fifty-six. With six wickets remaining, New Zealand only needed 123 more at that point. However, Blundell discovered that one was never really in on this surface when he chose to perform a reverse sweep and was bowled around his legs.
The new guy in was Glenn Phillips. His wicket was always going to be important, given his explosive 49 not out in the midst of a lower-order collapse in the first innings. It ended out that Phillips, trying a forward defence, didn’t really hamper the scorers, edging to second slip for 4.
In an attempt to counterbalance Ravindra’s one-man attack, Mitchell Santner batted longer than necessary, but he eventually lost patience and hit a thrown ball straight into the clutches of short cover.
Tim Southee was dismissed by Sri Lanka quickly in the tail proper as he was unable to accept that Ramesh was pulling the spin outside of his off stump. One struck him on the rear leg in front of the middle and leg after multiple near misses. Despite the significant appeal, the umpire remained in place. However, Ramesh succeeded in persuading his captain to walk upstairs, and New Zealand suffered their seventh defeat.
Earlier in the day, the game had seen a similar ups and downs trajectory. When play started, Sri Lanka had finished their second innings within the morning session, having lost six wickets for 72 runs. Will O’Rourke, who bowled a little off-colour session with the second new ball, ended with 3 for 49, and Ajaz took five of those in just over an hour.
However, Devon Conway would be removed by Sri Lanka at the end of the session when he was caught off guard by Asitha Fernando’s quick inseamer. But the tourists were retaliating as the post-lunch session started again.
Tom Latham and Kane Williamson were eager to sweep and use their feet to make sure the spinners didn’t have it all their own way, even though Jayasuriya and Ramesh were constant with their line and length.
Throughout, Williamson in particular was quite active, moving to the pitch of the ball at times and at other times slipping deep into the crease. The highlight of the session was a lofted six against Jayasuriya over extra cover with the spin. He’d hit a luxurious cover drive just before.
However, Jayasuriya emerged victorious, managing to pull Williamson out one too many times before turning it past a startled forward defense while Kusal Mendis whipped off the bails. This was the turn that left Williamson momentarily perplexed and making angry gestures at the pitch as he exited.
That put an end to a dangerous 45-run stand between two players who had done a great deal of damage in the opening half.
Before the session ended, Sri Lanka also had the dangerous Daryl Mitchell and Latham removed from the game. Mitchell was dismissed by an arm ball from Dhananjaya de Silva, while Latham was removed by a delivery that Mendis twisted back brilliantly.
But before the spinners could harm them once more, New Zealand, driven by Blundell and Ravindra, fought back again.
