It was a session that played out very similarly to that of the second
morning. Like Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson had done on day two,
Angelo Mathews and Tharanga Paranavitana kept the bowlers at bay for the
majority of the session, but couldn't hold their guard till the break.
Tim Southee's opening spell on the second evening gave New Zealand the
initiative, and he proved to be just as incisive with the older ball,
removing the set pair and making Sri Lanka's march towards the follow-on
target a little tougher.
The clouds arrived as the session wound to a close, and Southee returned
for his second spell of the day. It had been a frustrating morning for
New Zealand until that point, when a close shout for lbw against Mathews
was turned down and Ross Taylor fluffed a straightforward catch at
first slip to give Paranavitana a life on 32. Southee ensured that drop
didn't cost much as he drew Paranavitana forward and induced an edge to
Kruger van Wyk, much to the relief of his captain at slip. Southee
managed to squeeze in one more wicket, in his following over, when he
got Mathews driving and edging behind. What looked like a regulation
fourth slip catch was taken spectacularly by Martin Guptill at third
slip, diving full length to his right.
Till then it was a steady build by Mathews and Paranavitana, who gave
the seamers some respect earlier in the morning with the seam movement
on offer. Paranavitana needed a good innings to gain some more
confidence ahead of a tough tour of Australia, and was strong square of
the wicket, cutting Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell past point. Mathews
offered the full face of the bat with his straighter drives, including
one that knocked down the stumps at the other end. Paranavitana was
lucky, though, that Boult did not get a hand to it as he was backing up
too far.
Mathews greeted Jeetan Patel with a massive six over long-on but the
bowler nearly had him on 36 with one that pitched on middle and looked
quite adjacent to the leg stump. The only element of doubt was his
angle, bowling from round the wicket. Fielders were placed close to the
batsmen, but they milked the singles down the ground, at one point Patel
kicking the ground in frustration. Southee's return changed the
complexion of the morning as Sri Lanka ended the session still 106 away
from the follow-on target, with the last recognised pair at the crease.
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