by Sa'adi Thawfeeq
New Zealand coach Steve Rixon's boast of getting the Kiwis off to a flying start like the Indians did to the Australians never materialised as the Sri Lankan spinners led by Muthiah Muralitharan put a break on their batting by capturing seven wickets for 282 runs on the first day of the first Test played at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
Only skipper Stephen Fleming and wicket-keeper Adam Parore crossed the fifty mark, as Muralitharan with 3 for 87, Ruwan Kalpage with 2 for 49 and debutant Niroshan Bandaratilake with a first over wicket, kept the free-scoring New Zealand batsmen in check, on a slow and grassless surface.
New Zealand opted to bat first, after Fleming had called correctly, but were pushed back by two short sharp showers in the first two sessions that saw play go on till 6.30 pm yesterday.
Left-arm spinner Bandaratilake making his debut, became only the fourth Sri Lankan bowler to take a wicket in his first over in Test cricket when he dismissed Matthew Horne for 15. The New Zealand opener was beaten by the arm ball that went straight through his defences after he and Bryan Young had put on 25 for the first wicket.
It was Bandaratilake's fifth ball in the big league, and he joined three other fast-medium bowlers who had made a memorable beginnings to their Test careers - Saliya Ahangama who dismissed Mohamed Azharuddin with his fourth ball at the Sara Stadium in 1985-86, Kosala Kuruppuarachchi who dismissed Mudassar Nazar with his third ball at the CCC grounds in 1985-86, and Dulip Liyanage who dismissed Tom Moody with his third ball at the Sara Stadium in 1992-93.
Left-hander Fleming except for a rare blemish when he was almost caught at short mid wicket by his vis-a-vis Arjuna Ranatunga at 31, batted fluently to hit 12 fours in his score of 78 made in 218 minutes. It was his 17th Test fifty and his fourth against Sri Lanka.
After his dismissal at 188, Parore, who has been in good nick with the bat on the tour, held the innings together in three late partnerships with Chris Cairns and Chris Harris that raised the total by 81 runs. Scoring off only the loose deliveries, Parore struck eight fours to remain unbeaten on 67 at the close having batted 170 minutes, for his 11th fifty in Test cricket.
Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns were both out to poor shots attempting to force the pace on the slow surface, while Young fell to a fine diving catch taken off the inside edge by wicket-keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana.
New Zealand suffered a double blow in the middle of their innings when they lost Astle and Craig McMillan within three balls of each other. Astle fell to a good running catch by Mahela Jayawardene at mid wicket and McMillan was trapped lbw on the back foot.
Sri Lanka were rewarded with the wicket of Chris Harris late in the day when they took the second new ball after 90 overs. Wickremasinghe bowled a superb outswinger (inswinger to the left-hander) to have him lbw.
Day 2: Lanka's top order fails again
by Sa'adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka's top order batting which skipper Arjuna Ranatunga was hoping would come good after the debacle in South Africa, failed once again and they were left struggling at 251 for 7 wickets in reply to New Zealand's 305 at the end of the second day of the first cricket Test at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
The joy of Sri Lanka's ace spinner wrapping up the New Zealand first innings with his 13th five-wicket haul in 39 Tests fizzled out inside the first 40 minutes of the Sri Lankan first innings, when Chris Cairns, who bowls very much less these days, because of a recurring back injury, sent back Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu in his opening spell of five overs.
Atapattu went without scoring after five balls, and Jayasuriya, whose previous Test innings on this ground was a monumental 340 against India last year, survived 19 balls for 10 runs. Both were caught at the wicket by Adam Parore.
Mahela Jayawardene who has taken over the No. 3 position from Roshan Mahanama batted authoritatively to complete his second Test fifty (his first on debut was also made on this ground against India last year), and in the process forge a useful third wicket stand of 80 with Aravinda de Silva, before both were dismissed within four runs of each other.
De Silva made a passive 37 in 98 minutes before hitting a full toss off part-time bowler Craig McMillan to mid-on. Jayewardene was also caught in the same position when he mistimed an on-drive to provide debutant off-spinner Paul Wiseman with his maiden Test wicket.
Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and Romesh Kaluwitharana gave the innings momentum with a 101-run fifth wicket stand, until Cairns returning for a new spell separated them. Although their concentrations were disturbed with a 49-minute break for rain, the pair batted well, till Cairns induced Ranatunga into a false stroke. The left-hander was bowled by a slow yorker for 49 scored with the help of one six and six fours.
New Zealand came back after Ranatunga's dismissal to capture the wickets of Ruwan Kalpage for six, and Kaluwitharana's for 72. Kalpage was bowled around his legs by Wiseman, and Kaluwitharana, who had hit 13 fours in a stay of 149 minutes lost his cool and coming down the track to Daniel Vettori, was beaten by the flight and bowled. At 64 he completed 1,000 runs in Tests.
New Zealand's last three wickets added 23 runs before they were all out having batted for 31 minutes. After Pramodya Wickremasinghe had removed Adam Parore for 67 without any addition to the overnight total of 282 for 7, with the delivery of the morning, Muralitharan cleaned up the New Zealand tail with a spell of two wickets for one run off six balls, to finish with figures of 5 for 90. Wiseman was unfortunate to be given out when TV replays indicated that the ball had come off his front pad to silly point fielder Marvan Atapattu. South African umpire Rudi Koertzen consulted the third umpire to determine the fairness of the catch, when the ball had not come off the bat.
Day 3: Fleming marvellous unbeaten 106
by Sa'adi Thawfeeq
The Sri Lanka Cricket Board chief curator's fear that the R. Premadasa Stadium pitch would turn into a good batting track became a reality when New Zealand buoyed by a marvellous unbeaten century by captain Stephen Fleming took control of the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
Fleming overcame oppressive heat conditions