Dimuth Karunaratne fought at one end, and saw the coming and going of teammates at the other end. 89 runs came from his single bat, all the rest together with extra runs total 75! He fought even after reading the follow-on. However, he stopped at this stage after crossing fifty. The party is also in danger. New Zealand hoping to win by innings.
There is a fear of innings loss in front of Sri Lanka in the Wellington Test. On the wicket where Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls scored double centuries in Daput batting, the Lankan batting has fallen on its face.
Despite Karunaratne’s 89 runs in the first innings, they were bundled out for just 164 runs. After falling on the follow-on, they were 113 for 2 in the second innings. Karunaratne scored fifty this time too. But he is also out. Kusal Mendis finished the third day with a fifty.
They still need 303 runs to avoid an innings defeat with 8 wickets in hand.
Sri Lanka started the day on Sunday with 26 runs for 2 wickets. Team Southee sent nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya back in the third over of the day. A little later a big shock. Angelo Mathews, the centurion of the previous Test, departed for 1 run after pushing Matt Henry’s ball body and punching away.
Karunaratne and Chandimal resisted for the team which lost 4 wickets for 34 runs. Sri Lanka did not lose any more wickets till lunch due to careful batting by two experienced batsmen.
But Chandimal suddenly lost himself in the first over after lunch. His innings ended on 37 when he bowled off-spinner Michael Bracewell out of the crease. The pair stopped at 80 runs. Bracewell’s next over saw Dhananjaya De Silva depart for a scoreless run.