Galle International Stadium: New Zealand has started their full-fledged Sri Lanka tour to play a 2-match Test cricket series. The first match of the test match series started on 18th September in the city of Galle. Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first and scored 305 runs from 91.5 overs. The Sri Lankan player Kamindu Mendis top scored 114 (173), and wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis scored 50 (68). For New Zealand, William O’Rourke took the highest 5 wickets, and Ajaz Patel and Glenn Philips took 2 wickets each.
After that, New Zealand put on a great performance and scored 340 runs from 90.5 overs to take a 35-run lead over Sri Lanka. Tom Latham scored 70 (111), Kane Williamson 55 (104), Daryl Mitchell 57 (86), and Glenn Phillips 49 (48)*. Prabhat Jayasuriya took the maximum of 4 wickets, Ramesh Mendis took 3 wickets, and Dhananjaya de Silva took 2 wickets for Sri Lanka.
After that, the Sri Lankan team showed responsible performance in the 2nd inning and accumulated 309 runs from 94.2 overs. Angelo Mathews scored 50 (111) runs, Karunaratne 83 (127) runs, and captain De Silva scored 40 (77) runs, while Ajaz Patel took the maximum 6 wickets and William O’Rourke took 3 wickets for New Zealand. Chasing 275 runs in the end, Tom Latham’s 28 (68) runs, Davon Conway’s 4 (7) runs, and star player Kane Williamson’s 30 (46) runs were dismissed. However, Rachin Ravindra, who came in at number 4, played vigorously.
But Daryl Mitchell had 8(26) runs, Tom Blondel 30(43) runs, Glenn Phillips 4(14) runs, Tim Southee 2(9) runs, and Mitchell Santner got out for 2(22) runs and gave a setback. On the other hand, Ravindra continued to fight for victory with a half-century. At the same time, New Zealand, who had only 2 wickets in hand, needed 68 runs on the 5th day.
But Sri Lanka wasted no time on the final or 5th day morning of the first Test in Galle, needing just 15 minutes to skittle out New Zealand. Because Ravindra was expected to make a New Zealand fight and win this match. But he got out on 92 (168) runs, including 9 fours and 1 six, without scoring any further runs on the 5th day today. Finally, Sri Lanka bowled out New Zealand for 211 runs from 71.4 overs, winning by 63 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Prabath Jayasuriya took the maximum of 5 wickets, and Ramesh Mendis took 3 wickets in the second innings for the Sri Lanka team. Particularly, Jayasuriya helped Sri Lanka take the final two New Zealand wickets and secure a commanding 63-run victory at Galle International Stadium.
The defeat made the Sri Lanka team move up to 3rd place in the 2025 Test Championship points table with 50% points. On the other hand, New Zealand slipped to 4th place with 42.85% points. So, the chances for India to qualify for the 2025 finals are getting brighter with 71.67% points.
