Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was pleased with his team's all-round effort which helped secure victory over New Zealand.
New Zealand, resuming on the final day at 30 for one, needed 383 more runs for an unlikely victory in the first Test at Galle.
However they were instead bowled out for 210 just before tea as Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
Left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara set the tone with an outstanding spell in the morning, giving the home side crucial early breakthroughs with the wickets of Martin Guptill (18) and Tim McIntosh (0).
Muralitharan stars in Sri Lanka win
Part-time bowler Mahela Jayawardene then dismissed Ross Taylor (16) before master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan picked up three wickets to finish as the pick of the bowlers.
Muralitharan had claimed four wickets in the first innings and his three in the second came at a cost of 88 runs from 27 overs.
The victory marked a fine turnaround for Sri Lanka who had been reduced to 16 for two within the first half-hour on the first day.
Makeshift opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, however, rescued the home side with a blistering 92 which he followed up with an unbeaten 123 in the second innings.
Dilshan came in for special praise from Sangakkara.
"We had three very good individual performances with in the batting department," Sangakkara said.
"Dilshan batted magnificently in both innings and he really put us back on top and took the game away from the Kiwis after we lost those early wickets on the first day.
"Mahela batted beautifully again and Samaraweera (both scored centuries in the first innings) showed his class again.
No comments:
Post a Comment