Image Credit- Getty
Sri Lanka thrived as New Zealand withered. In the field, this was never more true. You are free to wax poetic about Prabath Jayasuriya’s most recent significant score in Galle and Kamindu Mendis (sorry, we have to bring him up frequently). However, the truth is that both teams’ on-field performances have largely contributed to the differences in this game.
We have already discussed New Zealand’s fielding errors during this second Test, and Luke Ronchi, the batting coach, is unable to consider Sri Lanka’s dominance on day two without remembering the opportunities lost on the first day.
However, those mistakes weren’t made public until the third day in an actual chilly and severe manner.
Just the list of catches that Dhananjaya de Silva has made could embarrass New Zealand’s efforts. His catching was so good that it almost spread, as Pathum Nissanka went on to collect two brilliant opportunities at short leg, not to mention Dinesh Chandimal’s superb running grab over his shoulder.
To make matters worse, New Zealand chose to add their own bizarre twist to the situation. Any slim prospects of salvaging a result vanished almost completely inside 105 minutes on Saturday morning as New Zealand effectively lost the plot.
Even if it’s normally not the easiest thing to bat from day three onwards in Galle, New Zealand’s level of surrender was shocking. Their 88 all out was the second-lowest total by a side in the second innings of Galle and the fourth-lowest total at the ground. Although the innings deficit of 514 was only second to the 570 they gave up to Pakistan 22 years earlier, it was also New Zealand’s 19th-lowest Test total ever.
Time and again, batter after batter probed, edged, and nudged. It would have been better to merely replace the scoreboard with a neon sign that read “c de Silva b Jayasuriya” and remove the scoreboard completely. That was the joint-highest number of times a bowler-fielder combo occurred in a Test innings, occurring five times throughout the innings.
By now, people who had travelled to Galle for a Test cricket weekend were making plans for their newly available Sundays. That is, until New Zealand came to its senses. The highlight of New Zealand’s second innings was a 97-run second-wicket stand off just 108 deliveries between Devon Conway and Kane Williamson. You could almost see what may have been.
Even though they lost wickets quickly after that, Blundell and Glenn Phillips’ unbreakable stand of 78 off 84 deliveries adds even more support to the obvious conclusion that New Zealand is better than this—it’s just a shame we haven’t been made aware of it.