(ESPN Cricinfo) – A trademark, enterprising century from Dinesh Chandimal led Sri Lanka’s charge towards a big score, making New Zealand rue multiple lapses in the field on the opening day in Galle yesterday.
Chandimal switched gears across the first two sessions on his way to a 16th Test century, helping the hosts finish on a commanding 306 for 3. Unbeaten half-centuries from Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis provided the support act.
New Zealand would have picked up more than three wickets in the day had Daryl Mitchell not put down two catches at first slip, Tom Blundell not missed Dimuth Karunartne’s stumping, and William O’Rourke not overstepped when he had Mathews caught behind. It was Chandimal’s chanceless innings, however, that hurt the visitors the most.
He raised his sixth hundred in Galle and his fourth 50-plus score in eight Test innings while batting at No. 3 – out of his usual position in the middle order, to accommodate Kamindu at No. 5 and Kusal Mendis at No. 7.
The only thing that went New Zealand’s way was the early wicket of Pathum Nissanka, who edged an out-swinger from Tim Southee behind at the end of the first over. Chandimal took on the fast bowlers when the new ball was still swinging around to set an early base for his team, and once the ball got older and conditions eased out for batting, with the sun beating down nicely, the hosts piled on the runs.
Karunaratne was the beneficiary of two lives; first dropped at slip on 5, off O’Rourke, and then he survived a stumping chance on 17 when he came down to attack Ajaz Patel and took a big swing but missed. Chandimal also edged the ball a few times early on against the pace bowlers, but that didn’t deter him from going for his shots.
He got off the mark with a fierce scythe that crashed the ball to the deep-point boundary and then went over the covers against Southee’s out-swinger. He took on Ajaz’s left-arm spin from around the wicket to score quick runs.
The most picture-perfect of his boundaries was against O’Rourke when he drove a full delivery on the up, square on the off side with a lot of power and impeccable timing. When he raced to 41 off 42, Southee brought on left-arm spin from both ends to stem the flow of runs before lunch, and the tactic worked as Ajaz and Mitchell Santner bowled in tandem for 15 overs for 36 runs, with the odd ball turning sharply. A now-patient Chandimal was on 49 for 13 balls before finally getting to the landmark on his 79th ball.
A brief spell of showers in the first hour pushed the lunch break from 12pm to 12.22pm, and when play resumed, it was a fielding effort, aided by a mix-up that ended the century partnership. Karunaratne flicked a ball from Santner to midwicket and ran all the way to the other end, but Chandimal barely left his crease.
Glenn Phillips’ throw from midwicket, meanwhile, reached short leg and not the keeper, and Latham hit the stumps with an under-arm throw just in time to find the batter – scrambling to regain his ground – short.
New Zealand then handed a life to Mathews. When O’Rourke had to re-bowl the last ball of the 44th over because he had overstepped, he had Mathews tickling one down the leg side and saw the umpire’s finger go up only to see the hand stretched to the side seconds later. Mathews settled his nerves thereafter by patiently seeing off the spinners, who stuck to tight lines and lengths with slightly flat trajectories.
Chandimal, meanwhile, continued to drive full deliveries through the covers, loft the spinners down the ground when the field wasn’t spread out, and he even got a bonus four runs via overthrows to reach 95. He soon acknowledged his century with a rock-the-baby celebration having become a father in June.
Mathews relied heavily on back-foot cuts and punches off the spinners, transferring his weight on the ball with his powerful arms and wrists. Chandimal fell soon after Mathews registered his 44th Test half-century, when he danced down and missed an off-break to lose his off stump, a reward for Phillips for bowling tight lines through the day.
Luck continued to favour the hosts even in the last session. Kamindu, the centurion from the first Test, edged his seventh and eighth deliveries in almost identical fashion off Southee not long before the second new ball was taken, but on both occasions the ball flew through the gap between Blundell and wide slip.
After being dropped by Mitchell at slip off O’Rourke after the new ball was taken, Kamindu produced a flurry of boundaries, which started with a slog-swept six off Ajaz and included three more fours in quick succession to bring up his 53-ball half-century.
O’Rourke used his height and bounce to also draw an edge off the splice of Matthews’ bat late in the day, but when the ball only kissed Tom Latham’s fingertips before going for four, Latham’s wry smile summed up New Zealand’s day.
