Sri Lanka favourites to win second Test after strong first day

Sri Lanka have a vice grip on the second Test against New Zealand after one day’s play in Galle, with the home side reaching 306/3 at the close of play.

Cricket bookmakers now have them as a -250 favourite to win the Test, having been +100 pre-match.

New Zealand’s odds to win the Test, on the other hand, have ballooned from +150 to +1200.

Both sides had lauded the importance of early runs at a venue notorious for tough batting conditions later on in Tests, but it was Sri Lanka who put their aspirations into action.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, the home side suffered an early setback when opener Pathum Nissanka fell in the first over.

However, it would be another 38 overs before another Sri Lanka batsman got out, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal putting on 122 runs between them for the second wicket.

Karunaratne was eventually run out for 46, but Chandimal would go on to anchor the host’s inning for the majority of the day, making 116 runs before Glenn Phillips bowled him after tea.

At the close of play, both Angelo Mathews (78) and Kamindu Mendis (51) had made half centuries, with the pair taking Sri Lanka through to 306/3.

“My goal was to bat positively,” shared top scorer Chandimal, who maintained a healthy strike rate of just under 56.

“It helped that the pitch was better than the one in the first Test.

“That one was a bit sluggish, but this one was better in that sense.”

New Zealand had their chances to make a bigger dent in the Sri Lankan lineup, with three dropped catches, a missed stumping, and a wicket off a no-ball.

“Things like that need to be there for you to score a hundred,” explained Chandimal.

“You need to have a bit of luck go your way – you know for an edge to go into a gap or into the ground.

“We try our best to play our shots, but sometimes the ball doesn’t go where we intend.

“At the same time, we have to give the bowlers credit too.

“They are good bowlers, so it is natural for things like this to happen in an innings.”

The Black Caps will take heart from the pitch looking more promising in this Test, but will need to be more efficient in their execution early on day two if they are to have any chance of taking a first innings lead and levelling the series.

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