Sri Lanka 3-43 (Angelo Mathews 20, Tharanga Paranavitana 9, Tim Southee 2-16) trail New Zealand 412 (Ross Taylor 142, Kane Williamson 135, Daniel Flynn 53, Rangana Herath 6-103) by 369 runs.
New Zealand continued their supremacy in the second Test by removing three top order batsmen of Sri Lanka after the visitors scored 412 runs in the 1st innings.
New Zealand hammered 412 runs before they were bowled out in 153 overs and Sri Lanka was reeling at 3-43 in 17 overs.
The second day’s play came to an end on Monday, November 26, 2012, at P Sara Oval, Colombo.
Earlier, New Zealand went into bat on day two at 2-223 runs in 80.5 overs, their captain Ross Taylor was batting at 119 runs and Kane Williamson was five runs short of his third Test ton. The start was rather slow for the visitors and they reached 236 runs after 87 overs and Williamson thrashed his century on the last ball of the next over with a four. The pair crept to 272 after 99 overs as Prasanna Jayawardene missed a stumping chance of Taylor at 142 runs on the third ball of the next over off Rangana Herath. The lapse did not prove costly for the home side as Ross Taylor was declared leg before wicket three balls later for 142 off 306 balls with 11 fours.
The third wicket partnership shared 262 runs and lifted the score to 276 as Kane Williamson became the next victim of Herath for 135 off 305 with 12 fours after the addition of 14 runs to the total. The Black Caps were cornered by Sri Lankan bowlers, they lost few quick wickets and the sixth wicket was gone at 300 in 116.5 overs. Daniel Flynn and Doug Bracewell got together and started ticking the score board as the latter hit the first four of his innings in the 125th over. Flynn secured his end while adding few runs and the score was taken to 346 when Bracewell was gone for 24 runs.
Daniel Flynn completed his sixth Test fifty in the 148th over but was held lbw off Herath for 53. Jeetan Patel remained unbeaten for 25 with 1 six and 2 fours as the innings of the Kiwis was folded back on 412 runs after utilising 153 overs.
Rangana Herath was once again unplayable and grabbed six wickets whereas Nuwan Kulasekara, Shaminda Eranga, Suraj Randiv and Tillakaratne Dilshan shared one wicket each.
The Lankan Lions opened the innings with Tharanga Paranavitana and the attacking batsman, Tillakaratne Dilshan. The home side suffered a blow when Dilshan was clean bowled by Tim Southee for just five runs on the fourth ball of the third over. Southee struck back again two balls later when one of the most devastating batsmen of the present day cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, was caught at fine leg by Trent Boult for a duck.
The problems for the Islanders were multiplied when their skipper, Mahela Jayawardene, was caught by Kane Williamson off Boult for just four runs. Angelo Matthews joined in with the opener Paranavitana and stopped the invasion of the New Zealand bowlers under a tremendous pressure. The first hit 3 fours in the 9th over as Paranavitana kept on defending at his end and both batsmen did not take any risk.
Sri Lanka reached 43 runs for the loss of three important wickets in 17 overs, Angelo Matthews and Tharanga Paranavitana were in the centre at 20 and 9 runs respectively.
Tim Southee got two wickets and Trent Boult held one as both pacers made an impact on the top order batsmen of the rival team.
New Zealand is in a commanding position at stumps on the second day and they will anticipate few quick wickets early on day three which can put them on a driving seat. Sri Lanka has to work hard and their remaining batsmen should bat well to get back in the match.
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