At stumps, New Zealand was 162-5 behind by 193 runs with two all-rounders at the crease. Daryl Mitchell, 40, and Michael Bracewell, nine years old, had batted for more than two hours.
Tom Latham of New Zealand scored a ferocious half century on Friday, the second day of the first cricket Test, in response to Sri Lanka’s 355-run first innings.
With two all-rounders at the wrinkle, New Zealand was 162-5, 193 runs behind at stumps. Daryl Mitchell, 40, and Michael Bracewell, nine years old, had batted for more than two hours.
The Sri Lankan bowlers took advantage of solid areas for their hitters, so the travelers were in significant solid areas until the very end of the following day. On Friday, the bowlers were able to accomplish significantly more with the ball than the New Zealanders were, even on the first day after winning the toss.
Because batting was never easy and the ball remained in the air throughout the day, the New Zealanders heavily relied on the innings of Latham and Mitchell.
“It was tricky pretty much the entire innings,” Latham stated. With the new ball, it probably went a little easier.
As the ball got older, I believe the wicket probably got faster and harder. The ball was moving in a moderate manner. They bowled clearly well despite the fact that we had little to hit, either on the front foot or the back foot. After a successful first day in which it overcame the challenge of batting first after losing the throw, Sri Lanka was 305-6. The visitors scored 50 after taking their final four wickets, considering that New Zealand won the second new ball five overs after play began.
The final four wickets were shared by New Zealand’s new ball sets’ Tim Southee and Matt Henry. Southee won with a score of 5-64, his fifteenth test five-wicket score, while Henry won with a score of 4-80.
When New Zealand took the field approximately 30 minutes prior to the lunch break, the weather probably couldn’t have been better. Hagley Park was illuminated, making for ideal viewing conditions even though the pitch had not shown much in the first inning.
However, Sri Lanka’s seamers discovered a length that was significantly more challenging than New Zealand’s, and they returned the ball sharply to left- and right-handed players with an unpredictable bounce just short of the length. New Zealand’s seamers were unable to find the length. The seamen in New Zealand were unable to determine the length. The length could not be determined by the New Zealand seamen. The New Zealand seamen were unable to determine the length. The length was unknown to the New Zealand seamen. The New Zealand sailors were unaware of the length. The length was unknown to the New Zealand sailors. The New Zealand sailors were unaware of the length. The length was unknown to the New Zealand sailors. The New Zealand sailors were unaware of the length. The length was unknown to the New Zealand sailors. The New Zealand sailors were unaware of the length. The length was unknown to the New Zealand sailors. The New Zealand sailors were unaware of the length. The sailors from New Zealand could not swim the distance.
Tom Latham and Devon Conway scored 67 runs to take the first wicket, but they were unable to overcome the Sri Lankan bowlers’ exactness and perseverance.
After several close calls, Asitha Fernando lbw trapped Conway when he was 30 years old. Because the ball was pitched externally off and scaled back precisely, Conway displayed all of the characteristics of batting on off stump. Conway looked at the replay and noticed that the umpire didn’t make the right call when the ball was just touching the top of the off stump.
Following its defeat to Conway, New Zealand fell to 76-3.
In his final over, Kane Williamson, who scored a century, attempted to drive a ball from Lahiru Kumara through cover. Dimuth Karunaratne, on the other hand, was directly in the path of the ball when it came on, so he missed the shot.
Henry Nicholls quickly showed up and left. Kasun Rajitha attempted to steal a ball from Kumara, but he missed the skip when he got it at short midwicket.
With 122 balls remaining, Latham reached his 50th century of the innings. His 11th, 50th, and 27th birthdays in tests. After that, the partnership of Daryl Mitchell and Latham added an additional 58 runs for the fourth wicket. However, as the Sri Lankan bowlers continued to beat the bat and find tricky lines, the partnership became difficult.
Asitha hit a terrible yorker on the day’s ball, cutting through Latham’s flick shot just before stumps as the partners appeared to be in control. New Zealand defeated his 67-year-old opponent by a score of 134-4.