SL vs NZ | Prabath-Peiris rattle Kiwi feathers in sensational collapse as Lanka end Day 3 on brink of history

Resuming at 22/2 with Kane Williamson unbeaten on 6 off 42 and Ajaz Patel yet to score from 16 deliveries, New Zealand had a stern challenge awaiting them on Day 3 as the pitch’s flatness at the start wore down drastically to give way to calamitous turn on Day 3. The former Kiwi’s skipper vigil only lasted nine balls as Prabath Jayasuriya struck within the first three overs of the day by having Kane caught at slip with a dipping length ball that turned sharply. His spin partner, debutant Nishan Peiris, was the next to strike with an off-break the went past Rachin Ravindra’s sweep, triggering a historic collapse of 6 for 27. Peiris followed up with Ajaz’s wicket in his next over after a 41 ball blockade before Jayasuriya had both Glenn Phillips and Tom Blundell caught at slip in the space of three deliveries. Sensing the jeopardy, Daryl Mitchell took the aggressive route as he struck a maximum and a boundary but the tacric backfired when he holed out at long-on to complete Jayasuriya’s fifer. Tim Southee followed two overs later as skipper Dhananjaya de Slva took yet another grab at slip to leave the score reading 68/9 with Mithcell Santner and William O’Rourke at the crease. The former picked his battles to gradually build his way to 29 but a Peiris ripped pegged back his off-stump to wrap up the Kiwi innings for 88.

With Lunch on the horizon, the hosts enforced follow-on and immediately reaped the reward as a late inswinger from Asitha Fernando dispatched Tom Latham in the first over to send the visitors into the break at 2/1. However, the momentum completely flipped in the second session as Devon Conway and Kane decided to end the rut by taking the attack to the opposition. The former, experiencing a personal run drought, swept his way to a quicker than run-a-ball half-century on the back of eight boundaries and a maximum while Kane at the other end kept the scoreboard ticking in trademark fashion to build a 96-run stand in just 18 overs. However, just as the side stood on the brink of winning their first session in the Test, Conway played one shot too many as he miscued a lofted shot over the covers and an excellent running catch from Dinesh Chandimal confirmed the breakthrough. A collapse reminiscent of the days first hour followed as another attempt to go big from Williamson brought his demise, before Jayasuriya and Peiris scalped Mitchell and Ravindra respectively to leave the Black Caps reeling on 122/5 at Tea.

Frequent collapse of big teams in test cricket shows the decline of big temperament players who plays some serious cricket across the nations, only 6-7 players good #cricket #INDvsBANTEST #SLvsNZ

— SHEKHAR PANWAR (@panwar_she81516) September 28, 2024