How often do we see a side having a healthy lead of 126 runs during the second innings, faltering down to a 10-wicket halt in just another 62 runs? Well, Sri Lanka provided us with just that! New Zealand emerged victorious in their 5 –wicket win against Sri Lanka in the 2nd Test held at Hamilton.

Having a strong lead of 55 runs before the commencement of second innings, Sri Lanka looked like they were marching strong by adding 71 runs before lunch with still 10 wickets in hand. The home crowd were almost certain that they would witness either a draw or a loss if things were carried out the same way. But the New Zealand bowlers came from the back to strike and deny their audience of such a scene. The bowlers’ strike proved to be too vicious for the Lankan lions to evade as their collapse initiated when they lost 3 wickets in just 6 runs before lunch. The Kiwis continued to deploy the visitors’ short-pitched plan on the visiting team, handing them the remaining 7 wickets in another 56 runs.

Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews said, “We just had to bat well and dig deep, but we made a real mockery out of our second innings batting and we just couldn’t give enough runs for the bowlers to get them out,” Mathews told reporters at Seddon Park.

“It is actually very disappointing the way the game unfolded towards the end.

“We had our chance, especially after getting them all out for 240-odd in the first innings. We had a healthy lead.”

The remarkable collapse meant New Zealand were handed just a paltry target of 189 runs to make it 2-0. The Black Caps’ most successful batsman of the year was their savoir yet again, when Kane Williamson struck his fifth century in 2015 and 13th overall to hand his team a clear victory by 5 wickets with just an hour remaining in the fourth day.

“Both teams struggled to face the short ball.

“Both teams were applying that same tactic and the batters from the both teams just couldn’t handle it, apart from Kane Williamson.”, the Lankan captain added.

Even though the islanders displayed a disgraced performance in the second innings, Mathews felt that they were a few positives that he could objectify from the recently concluded 2nd Test. The most prominent one being their new-found strike bowler – Dushmantha Chameera. Angelo Mathews appreciated his performance of 5/47 in the 1st innings and 4/67 in the second bout and lauded the development he has shown with the progress of the game.

The Lankan captain said, “Chameera was absolutely brilliant,” Mathews said. “He is just finding his way in test cricket. He’s played just a few games and he was able to shake the New Zealanders.

“He managed to upset their rhythm… and if he can keep his pace up there to constantly trouble the batsmen — that’s all I want. I just want him to bowl as quick as he can.”

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