The player of the day was Prabath Jayasuriya, who claimed his eleventh five-wicket haul in Test matches. After he tickled one to slip, Kane Williamson’s courageous 53-ball stay at the crease came to an end, and he was dismissed for the third time in just the third over of the day.
Due to poor lighting and a little drizzle, Day 3 of the second Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand was called off early, but not before the hosts unleashed a torrent of havoc in the visitors’ dressing room. With just five wickets remaining, New Zealand is behind Sri Lanka by 315 runs, and it appears very unlikely that the Black Caps will be able to even remotely set a goal for the Lankans.
Nishan Peiris, making his debut, was fast off the starting blocks, getting one to race through to disrupt Rachin Ravindra’s leg-stump. Three wickets fell in a row during an eight-ball gap in the 26th and 27th overs, showing that Jayasuriya and Peiris were still as deadly as ever.
After Daryll Mitchell bit a dangling carrot from Prabath Jayasuriya to hole an ambitious shot straight to long-on, New Zeland plummeted even lower.
This implied that eight of Jayasuriya’s nine five-wicket hauls have occurred in Galle. With a superbly constructed three-wicket haul, Peiris ended New Zealand’s suffering in the opening innings by getting one to fly past Mitchell Santner’s outside edge.
But news had quickly spread that Sri Lanka would be pushing New Zealand to follow on, so the Kiwi batting line would not be granted an instant reprieve. And sure enough, on the opening over of the second essay, Tom Latham hit a duck.
Devon Conway and Kane Williamson formed the most significant partnership for New Zealand during the game, appearing very comfortable in the middle. But the Black Caps collapsed again, losing four wickets for twenty-four runs.
Also Read: Twitter Reactions: Sri Lanka beats New Zealand by 88 runs
Tom Blundell and Glenn Phillips, who both failed in the first innings, put up an unbeaten partnership for the sixth wicket to help the visitors reach 199. However, bad light and a persistent drizzle caused the day’s play to end early, leaving New Zealand trailing by 315 runs.
Here’s how X reacted to Day 3 of the SL-NZ Test
What’s wrong with New Zealand cricket team?#SLvNZ
— Shahzaib Zubair (@ShaziZubair21) September 28, 2024
Do You Know?
New Zealand’s 88 (39.5) happens to be their lowest total vs Sri Lanka in Test Cricket.
NZ’s prev lowest vs SL: 102 @ Colombo(SSC) in 1992.#SLvNZ
— sudharshan sridharan (@sudharshansrid1) September 28, 2024
SRI LANKA – 602/5. 😲
NEW ZEALAND – 88/10. 🤯
Prabath Jayasuriya picked 6/42 – Sri Lanka with the lead of 514 runs. pic.twitter.com/RnjmODz4Bu
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 28, 2024
Prabath Jayasuriya has been Taken 9 fifers in just 29 innings in Test cricket…
– THE INSANE RECORD..🥶#SLvNZ #KanpurTest pic.twitter.com/ZNVJGLThyY
— Prabhat Yadav (@PrabhatYad89107) September 28, 2024
9 – @PrabathJayasur2 picked up his ninth five-wicket haul in men’s Tests against New Zealand today, which is already the fourth most by any @OfficialSLC bowler; no player has taken more such hauls in the format since Jayasuriya made his Test debut on 8 July 2022. Special.#SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/6nHIHje7TK
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) September 28, 2024
Srilankan legend @MahelaJay is highly impressed by young Kamindu Mendis. #SLvNZ https://t.co/8mfVuenIPU
— theinstatweets (@theinsta_tweets) September 28, 2024
Really enjoyed watching Kamindu Mendis bat.. what a player ! Congratulations on another hundred and what you have achieved along the way.. keep going champion 👍
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) September 27, 2024
Is the Fab Four still a thing ? . Since 2020 Root 103 innings. 17 test centuries . Smith ,Kohli and Kane combined 160 innings 19 centuries ( 6 ,2 & 11 ) #SLvNZ #INDvsBAN #CricketTwitter 🏏
— John Wright (@johnwright15) September 28, 2024
New Zealand’s biggest defeats in Tests:
Innings & 324 runs vs Pakistan, Lahore 2002
Innings & 322 runs vs WI, Wellington 1995
Innings & 222 runs vs AUS, Hobart 1993Currently trail by 315 with 5 wickets in hand at Galle. What a game for Sri Lanka.#SLvNZ
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) September 28, 2024
View from Galle fort today 😍 #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/xwJgUTuwe4
— Sukiya (@da_sukiya) September 28, 2024
Riyan Parag #DuleepTrophy
— 🏏 (@TheCricketList) September 21, 2024
Prabath Jayasuriya
— 🏏 (@TheCricketList) September 28, 2024
New Zealand fight but Sri Lanka still in command as bad light forces stumps on Day 3 👊 [ICC]#WTC25 #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/5UIMmjHEM9
— Kanak Kumari (@KanakKu64995524) September 28, 2024