GALLE — Sri Lanka won the first Test against New Zealand by 10 wickets shortly before tea on the third day in Galle on Monday, taking a 1-0 lead in the two match series.
Report by Reuters
Dimuth Karunaratne was unbeaten on 60 — his maiden Test half-century in his debut test — and Tharanga Paranavitana had 31.
Earlier, Rangana Herath returned a match haul of 11 wickets to lead Sri Lanka in sight of victory after dismissing New Zealand for a disappointing 118.
Resuming the day at 35-1, New Zealand lost nine wickets for 83 runs in just 39 overs. Sri Lanka needs 93 runs to win this Test with more than two days of play remaining.
Herath stuck with successive deliveries in New Zealand’s 34th over when he bowled Daniel Flynn for 20 and trapped Doug Bracewell lbw for a duck. After lunch he had Jeetan Patel caught by Dimuth Karunaratne to finish with 6-43.
Herath’s previous 10-wicket Test haul came earlier this year against England, also at Galle.
