Jayasuriya wraps up victory, SL leapfrog NZ on WTC table
New Zealand batter fell for 92 just eight balls into the final morning, before Jayasuriya bagged five in the second innings
New Zealand batter fell for 92 just eight balls into the final morning, before Jayasuriya bagged five in the second innings
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Srinidhi Ramanujam
That's it from us today. Hope you all enjoyed our coverage. We will have Fidel and Madushka firing up their post-match analysis and report. Do watch out this space. The second Test begins on Thursday. For now, I am signing off on behalf of our scorer, reporters involved in the Test. Take care and have a good start to the week!
With this win, Sri Lanka have moved to third place on the World Test Championship table, just above New Zealand. As Madushka points out, it keeps Sri Lanka's outside hopes of a final berth alive, but for New Zealand it makes their task considerably tougher with series against India and England coming up in the next few months.
Dhananjaya de Silva, the SL captain: "Win in England boosted our morale. we knew we were capable of winning the Test. (on the partnership between Karunaratne and Chandimal in the second innings) To have partnerships, it always helps. We have to improve both in bowling and batting. We have to gets runs from the tail. (on captaincy) I wasn't expecting to bowl much and Ramesh wasn't at his best. I think I have the ability to take wickets."
Tim Southee, the NZ captain: "It's a tough place to come. A good Test match. Plenty of positive, but disappointed with the result. (on Ravindra) I know he is magnificent player. He played here for the first time. He must be very, very excited about it. Yeah, we've been excited for a while. We saw glimpses back in New Zealand of his capabilities and what he's got. He's got a lot of attributes that set him up for a lot of success at this level. We've seen that in the short sample size. Yeah, if you look at any Test matches, there's moments in matches, and you look at that first innings, I'll still ask, I think it's because I've not seen anything happen in this part of the world. The deeper you go, the harder it becomes. That first innings, yeah, it was probably a bit disappointing. We could get a few more through the tally, and that position we got ourselves into. We know it's obviously a challenge for us, but in this part of the world, the later the Test goes, the tougher it becomes, so that was a big moment. (on toss) I think when you come to this part of the world, it's very important. But I think we saw, we got ourselves a position, we got ourselves a little lead. If you're able to get a bigger lead, then there's no reason why you can't win this position."
Prabath Jayasuriya: "Normally I do my basic, stick to it. I didn't experiment with the game. I just concentrate on consistently bowling my line and length and that's how I took my wickets."
Jay Deshpande: "If Sri Lanka continue to improve, we could see a resurrection of the team from the mid to late 90s. Extremely strong at home, with the odd surprises abroad (such as their victory at the Oval earlier this month against England). It's great to see them get that fighting instinct back that had long separated them from many other teams! Let the Lankan lions roar!"
Time for presentation...
10.19am: Sri Lanka have taken just four overs to skittle New Zealand out for 211 to post a 63-run win in Galle to lead the series 1-0. Prabath Jayasuriya added two more wickets on day five to finish with 5 for 68. Overall, he signs off the Test with 9 for 204, incredible stuff. All eyes were on Rachin Ravindra, who came out on 91 not out, this morning. But he couldn't see it through. Not easy on a day five pitch with the ball doing so much.
Mahin: "Except for Nissanka, Asitha, and Kumara, all other 8 players played a vital role in Sri Lanka's victory. They'll be buoyed with that. On the other hand, the brilliance of Ajaz, O'Rourke and Ravindra with bits from Latham, Phillips, and Mitchell couldn't overhaul the home team. I love this kind of pitches where a lot of players have a say."
W O'Rourke b Jayasuriya 0 (6b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
three close fielder on the leg side
After back-to-back wins at The Oval and in Galle, they are third. They have tough assignments ahead but will now know those games are not unwinnable, mainly thanks to their versatile bowling
New Zealand captain believes the batting collapse on the third morning was the definitive portion of the match
New Zealand batter fell for 92 just eight balls into the final morning, before Jayasuriya bagged five in the second innings
"We can't make mistakes against him tomorrow," says Prabath Jayasuriya
The left-arm spinner picked up 6 for 90 in the third innings of the Galle Test, his second five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka