New Zealand have started 2015 precisely where they left off last year, on the winning side of things, after they beat Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in the second test to wrap up the series 2-0 and complete their third successive home series win.
The Basin offered a batting-friendly pitch that became increasingly easier to negotiate as the test progressed. Sri Lanka won the toss and sent the home team into bat first, who found themselves all out on day one for a mere 221, with Blackcaps star batsman, Kane Williamson, top scoring with 69. Sri Lanka saw out the rest of day one fairly safely, but it was the performance by cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara, who scored a match-changing innings of 203, which put the visitors firmly in the driving seat, despite being bowled out for 356 (meaning the remaining ten batsmen only contributed 153 to the final total).
True to form, however, New Zealand are never a team to rule out at any time of any match and quickly chased down the run gap of 135, before they posted a monstrous total of 524/5d, with Williamson scoring 242 not out and Watling 142 not out. It seems breaking records has become something this team enjoys, as they managed to break yet another one before the end of the match. Kane Williamson and BJ Watling put on a record sixth-wicket partnership of 365, trumping the previous record of 352 set by Captain McCullum and Watling just three months earlier at the same ground. The bronze plaque depicting the previous record had been placed at the stadium only three days prior to the new record being posted.
McCullum declared with roughly an hour to play at the end of day four, leaving the Sri Lankans a total of 390 runs to chase down in 107 overs. With the pitch becoming a gift to the batsmen, combined with the Blackcaps only managing to pick up one wicket on day four, it seemed that McCullum may have left the gates slightly open for the Sri Lankans to slip through for the victory.
But the Kiwi bowlers stuck to their game plan and with the faith of their optimistic and aggressive captain, they were able to get the job done on the stroke of lunch on day five, with Tim Southee clean bowling Nuwan Pradeep, bringing the game to an end and giving NZ a substantial victory of 193 runs.
Like all cricket, the test ended with a few questionable decisions that could have potentially changed the outcome of the game had they gone the other way. The biggest may have been Sangakkara, who was cheaply sent back to the changing rooms in Sri Lanka’s second innings after the Blackcaps reviewed what they felt was a caught behind, despite the evidence being fairly inconclusive. Once Kaushal Silva (who batted for three long hours for his 50) and Angelo Mathews (8) both fell, it was clear that Sri Lanka were not going to reach their total, judging by the multiple poor shot selections being made by the parade of the batsmen coming onto the field.
While the batsmen were the ones who stood out considerably this test, there were bowlers who managed to make their marks. On return, Doug Bracewell managed a combined bowling figure of 5-118 while Pradeep managed 7-180, clearly on the expensive side, but picking up the highest total of wickets.
With another win in the bag, New Zealand have leaped two places up the ICC test ranking, from 7th to 5th, pushing both Sri Lanka and India down a place. If their recent performances in test cricket can be emulated in the limited overs format, their World Cup prospects are looking extremely bright.
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