Dimuth Karunaratne (49*) played with composure as he steered Sri Lanka through a tricky period, with the visitors finding themselves at 85/2 at stumps on Day 1 of the second Test in Colombo.
After the morning session was washed out due to persistent rain, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat. Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne handled the hint of movement on offer with a degree of confidence. The former, in particular, played late and with soft hands to negate the threat of Tim Southee and Trent Boult. With a tinge of grass on offer and moisture seeping in, the opening pace duo could have bowled better.
Kane Williamson then introduced William Somerville into the attack. The off spinner, who didn’t exactly get the rewards for his perseverance in the first Test, immediately forced Thirimanne to edge one behind, only for BJ Watling to grass the chance. The off spinner’s luck, however, changed in his very next over when he lured Thirimanne to drive a tossed up delivery to short cover. Even though Thirimanne ended up with just two runs to his name, he and Karunaratne ensured that the hosts paddled through the new ball.
At the other end, Colin de Grandhomme found swing and seam to trouble Kusal Mendis (32), the number three batsman. The all rounder also forced a few outside edges while bowling to the right-handed batsman but on a slow track, none of those carried to the slip fielders. Eventually, Williamson turned back to Southee, who soon extracted seam movement via his scrambled seam change-up delivery, only for it whistle past Mendis’s off stump.
The duo was able to pilot the home side to the break. However, after Tea, there was one more rain break, and when play resumed, de Grandhomme dismissed Mendis with the a delivery that left the number three batsman to produce the edge. Just seven overs into the final session, bad light forced the umpires to call for Stumps.
Earlier, rain had played spoilsport in the morning. However, at the fag end of the session, it stopped and due to the groundsmen’s earnest efforts, the toss took place and the afternoon session began at 1.40pm local.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 85/2 (Dimuth Karunaratne 49*, Kusal Mendis 32; Colin de Grandhomme 1-14) v New Zealand.
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