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Sri Lanka fall apart after tea as Black Caps take control in Wellington

December 15, 2018

Relive 1 NEWS NOW's live coverage of day one of the first Test between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka from the Basin Reserve, Wellington.

6:31pm: SL 275/9 - 87.0 overs Rajitha 2, Dickwella 73

WICKET! Trent Boult bowls to Rajitha and he nicks the ball straight into the gloves of BJ Watling. New Zealand bag another wicket just before the end of play of day one of the first Test.

New Zealand's bowler Tim Southee is congratulated on taking a wicket by teammate Henry Nicholls.  New Zealand Blackcaps v Bangladesh, International Cricket, Day 1 of the 1st test, Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand. Thursday, 12 January, 2017. Copyright photo: John Cowpland / www.photosport.nz

5:35pm: SL 240/8 - 74.2 overs Lakmal 2, Dickwella 29

WICKET! Neil Wagner bowls to Lakmal with the Sri Lankan batsman lobbing the ball into leg-side. Henry Nicholls keeps his eyes on the ball and shows great speed to get to it, he makes a sensational diving catch and Sri Lanka are in real trouble now.

5:15pm: SL 227/7 - 71.2 overs Lakmal 2, Dickwella 29

WICKET! Colin de Grandhomme bowls to Perera, it is a full and straight delivery by de Grandhomme and Perera nicks it onto the gloves of NZ keeper BJ Watling.

4:21pm: SL 186/6 - 59.2 overs Matthews 83, Dickwella 8

WICKET!  Tim Southee dismisses Sri Lanka's danger man Matthews! It is a big wicket for the home side, with the short ball getting the best of Matthews. The Sri Lanka batsman is cramped for room at the crease and the ball hits his glove with BJ Watling having to leap high to make the catch.

Sri Lanka are in all sorts of trouble losing two quick wickets after tea.

4:15pm: SL 168/5 - 58 overs Matthews 72, Dickwella 0

WICKET! Tim Southee strikes! Southee bowls to Chandimal and he hits it straight down to Ajaz Patel at deep square leg. A bad shot from Sri Lanka's skipper.

3:31pm: SL 160/4 - 53 overs, Mathews 65*, Chandimal 5*

Mathews has started to up his tempo with Karunaratne gone, Chandimal struggling to get in against Wagner's short pitched attack.

The partnership so far is 18 runs.

3:01pm: SL 142/4 - 46.3 overs, Mathews 52*, Chandimal 0*

WICKET! Wagner gets the break New Zealand needed and this time Karunaratne goes! A barrage of short balls sees Karunaratne attempt to pull, but he can only manage an edge through to Watling behind the stumps. Karunaratne's fighting effort comes to an end, the partnership is broken on 133.

Dinesh Chandimal the new man.

2:51pm: SL 132/3 - 44 overs, Karunaratne 71*, Mathews 50*

Ajaz Patel comes into the attack and is greeted with a boundary straight away from Mathews, cutting to bring up his fifty, it's come from 104 balls with six boundaries.

2:21pm: SL 112/3 - 37.2 overs, Karunaratne 60*, Mathews 41*

That's the 100 partnership for these two, a straight drive off de Grandhomme by Mathews sees the stand reach triple figures.

NZ in need of a breakthrough now.

2:05pm: SL 96/3 - 33.4 overs, Karunaratne 50*, Mathews 35*

Fifty for Karunaratne! A clip off his hip sees Karunaratne through to his half ton, he gets there from 101 balls with seven boundaries.

1:59pm: SL 88/3 - 32 overs, Karunaratne 43*, Mathews 34*

Sri Lanka picking up where they left off. The partnership between these two is up to 79. Trent Boult has looked threatening after lunch for the Black Caps.

1:43pm: SL 78/3 - 28 overs, Karunaratne 41*, Mathews 30*

The clouds overhead have started to clear, Tim Southee will open up after lunch to try and get every last bit of movement out of this ball. Karunaratne on strike. 

The first ball back is gun-barrell straight, Karunaratne defends. The second ball is wide, Karunaratne drives straight to the fielder at cover. Slight appeal from Watling fourth ball, wanting a caught behind, the ball's come off the pad though.

Karunaratne manages a boundary and a single to end the first over back.

1:35pm

We're back for the start of the afternoon session at the Basin. Can the Black Caps regain that golden touch with the ball and break this partnership?

1:00pm: SL 73/3 - 27 overs, Karunaratne 36*, Mathews 30*

LUNCH : That brings the session to an end. A fairly even opening morning, New Zealand dominating early before Sri Lanka fought back through this pair, with an unbeaten 64-run stand heading into the break.

We'll be back in around 40 minutes for the afternoon session of this first Test.

12:49pm: SL 63/3 - 24 overs, Karunaratne 35*, Mathews 21*

Karunaratne and Mathews have raised the 50 stand, their partnership 54 from 121 balls at the moment. Lunch is quickly approaching, can Sri Lanka hold out?

12:32pm: SL 57/3 - 20 overs, Karunaratne 33*, Mathews 17*

NZ break the partnership and Karunaratne's vigil ends he chips straight to Latham off de Grandhome, but hang on, he's over-stepped!

Sri Lanka given a life .

12:27pm: SL 55/3 - 19 overs, Karunaratne 33*, Mathews 16*

Neil Wagner into the attack now, the Sri Lankan pair better prepare for some short stuff!

First ball is in at Mathews' ribs, he defends into the leg side, a bit of excitement under the helmet. Second ball is short and wide, Mathews belts it through cover off the back foot, it won't reach the boundary though - three runs to bring Karunaratne onto strike. 

Fourth ball is full from Wagner, Karunaratne clips off his feet for four to bring up the 50 for the visitors. Short ball to finish, Karunaratne pulls for four, 11 from Wagner's first over.

12:10pm: SL 32/3 - 15 overs, Karunaratne 17*, Mathews 9*

Change of ends for Southee, NZ's chief destroyer replaces Boult at the other end. No troubling the scorers, first over after drinks is another maiden.

12:03pm: SL 32/3 - 14 overs, Karunaratne 17*, Mathews 9*

Just like that, de Grandhomme replaces Southee. With the exception of a leg bye, de Grandhomme's first over doesn't go for any runs.

That brings the first hour to a close, time for drinks.

11:58am: SL 31/3 - 13 overs,  Karunaratne 17*, Mathews 9*

Mathews and Karunaratne are starting to rotate the strike between themselves, making it hard for Boult and Southee to get into a rhythm.

The Black Caps' two opening bowlers are yet to have a rest yet either.

11:39am: SL 17/3 - 8 overs,  Karunaratne 10*, Mathews 2*

These two have now (unsurprisingly) put on the biggest partnership of the innings so far, with eight runs from 23 balls.

A lot riding on Mathews and Karunaratne. Meanwhile, Southee has figures of 3/5 from his four overs so far. 

11:22am: SL 9/3 - 4 overs - Karunaratne 5*, Mathews 0*

WICKET! Southee is on fire! Mendis gets off the mark by clipping one through the leg side for two. Next ball is slightly fuller and Mendis goes for the same shot. Instead, he can only clip the ball to Patel at short midwicket. Ajaz accepts the catch, Mendis out for 2.

Angelo Mathews the new man in, sent in ahead of the captain.

11:18am: SL 7/2, 3.2 overs - Karunaratne 5*, Mendis 0*

WICKET! Southee's got another! A beauty to the right hander, pitching on middle and off and moving towards the slips, de Silva can only prod at the ball and edge through to the keeper. Watling obliges behind the stumps to take the catch.

Sri Lanka in trouble as de Silva goes for one. Kusal Mendis the next batsman.

11:15am: SL 7/1, 3 overs - Karunaratne 5*, de Silva 1*

Dhananjaya de Silva the new batsman, he'll face up to Trent Boult after Karunaratne gets a single. His first ball is left alone, second ball is solidly defended. Another leave from de Silva, two balls left in the over.

Next ball is very full, de Silva drives and gets an inside edge that on another day could have troubled the stumps. Final ball of the over is worked into the leg side for a single, da Silva off the mark.

11:10am: SL 5/1, 2 overs - Karunaratne 4*, de Silva 0*

WICKET!  Southee with the ball from the other end, Gunathilaka on strike. First ball is just back of a good length, Gunathilaka defends it into the leg side for no run. Second ball has a bit of shape back into the left hander, but is wide enough to leave.

Two more dots as Southee looks for some shape. The fifth ball of the over is very full, Gunathilaka drives but doesn't get past mid on.

Final ball of the over is pitched up and this time Gunathilaka misses it! He's hit on the pad and given out! Southee strikes with the new ball! Gunathilaka doesn't review, he's out for just 1.

11:05am: SL 5/0, 1 over - Gunathilaka 1*, Karunaratne 4*

Here we go, first ball from Boult is down leg, Watling dives to collect, Gunathilaka tries a flick but gets nowhere near the ball. Second ball of the day is pitched up, Gunathilaka drives, but doesn't beat the man at point.

Third ball is on the pads, Gunathilaka glances and gets off the mark, first runs of the series. Karunaratne takes strike now. Another pitched up delivery from Boult, Karunaratne pushes but doesn't beat the field. Fifth ball is outside off stump, Karunaratne leaves it alone.

Final ball of the over is pitched up again, Karunaratne looks to go straight, but gets the outside edge through the gully for a streaky boundary.

10:59am

Right then, we're all ready to go at the Basin! Gunathilaka will take strike for Sri Lanka. Trent Boult gets first crack with the new ball.

10:53am

Both sides now through their warm-ups. Kane Williamson leads New Zealand out onto the field, Dinesh Chandimal does the same for Sri Lanka.

We'll have the anthems before play starts.

10:30am

Good morning! Cricket season is upon us, and we'll start with the coin toss in Wellington. Kane Williamson and Dinesh Chandimal in the middle with the coin.

Williamson flips, Chandimal calls heads and it's tails NZ win the toss and will bowl first! Grey skies overhead, green pitch underfoot. Simple decision for the Black Caps' skipper.

PREVIEW

The wait for the return of international cricket is over, with the Black Caps welcoming familiar foes Sri Lanka to our shores once again.

Arriving back from the UAE with a memorable series win over Pakistan, Kane Williamson's side will face off against a Sri Lanka side on the wrong end of recent results, whitewashed in their last home series against England.

For the hosts, the pace trio of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner will be reunited, having had to rotate in the spin friendly conditions of the UAE.

Sri Lanka meanwhile, will be without their main strike weapon, off-spinner Akila Dananjaya, banned for a suspect bowling action.

It's also worth noting that a 2-0 series victory would see the Black Caps move to number two in the world rankings.

TEAMS 

Black Caps: 1. Jeet Raval, 2. Tom Latham, 3. Kane Williamson (c), 4. Ross Taylor, 5. Henry Nicholls, 6. BJ Watling (wk), 7. Colin de Grandhomme, 8. Tim Southee, 9. Neil Wagner, 10. Ajaz Patel, 11. Trent Boult.

Sri Lanka: 1. Dimuth Karunaratne, 2. Danushka Gunathilaka, 3. Dhananjaya de Silva, 4. Kusal Mendis, 5. Dinesh Chandimal (c), 6. Angelo Mathews, 7. Niroshan Dickwella (c), 8. Dilruwan Perera, 9. Suranga Lakmal, 10. Kasun Rajitha, 11. Lahiru Kumara.

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