SL vs NZ

Dhananjaya de Silva (captain, Sri Lanka): The win in England boosted our morale, we know we are capable of winning Test matches. It was a crucial point. It came in the second innings but we need to work on the bowling and batting in the first innings as well. We were talking about it, we have the lowest average in the tail and need to get some runs from the tail. I wasn't expecting to pick up wickets. I know I have the ability and used that well

Tim Southee (captain, New Zealand): Great test match, a tough place to come and many positives from this game but disappointed to end on the wrong side. We have seen that in Test cricket, he put on a good effort (O Rourke). You look at the first innings and we lost five wickets for nothing. It was a bit sad to expect more from the tail-enders. When you come here, toss is very important and make good use of the batting and bowling conditions.

Prabath Jayasuriya (Player of the Match) - " I just do my basics and stick to my plans. I don't experiment a lot. I like playing here at Galle and the surface has some assistance. I concentrate hard on my line and lengths and look to keep things simple. "

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 63 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series

New Zealand (2nd Innings): 211 all out (71.4 overs)
Rachin Ravindra: 92(168b) | Tom Blundell: 30(43b)
Prabath Jayasuriya: 5/68 (30.4 overs) | Ramesh Mendis: 3/83 (25 overs)

Galle strengthens as a fortress for the hosts, who win another Test match here and have taken an unassailable lead in this series. They face familiar foes yet again at the same venue in a couple of days from now. New Zealand will be gutted by this loss, but their poor shot selection has led them to gift the opposition wickets.

Batting first, both teams did really well with New Zealand leading at the end of the innings. They lost the plot on Day 3 where Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal stitched a big partnership of 149 runs that set New Zealand a target of 275.

New Zealand lost Conway early but the big blow came when Kane Williamson was stumped owing to poor judgement of the ball. Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell all got starts but couldn't make it count. Rachin Ravindra was out in the middle and scored a magnificent 92 but lacked support as the visitors slumped to their first loss on their Asian conquest.

Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya makes Galle his favourite venue as he finishes this Test with 9 wickets. Ramesh Mendis did well lending a helping hand, picking up three wickets and Asitha Fernando and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva added a wicket each to their tally.

Join us now for the presentation ceremony where we will hear what the captains and the player of the match has to say.

71.4 Prabath Jayasuriya to William O Rourke, BOWLED'EM!! THAT WILL BE ALL!!! Prabath Jayasuriya picks up the final wicket and Sri Lanka win by 63 runs to go 1-0 up in the series. It was angled into the middle and off stump line and fuller in length too. O'Rourke was drawn forward and he was beaten as the ball turned away from him to hit the top of off stump. It also gives Prabath his fifth wicket in the second innings. 

William O'Rourke b Prabath Jayasuriya 0(6b, 0x4, 0x6)

71.2 Prabath Jayasuriya to Ajaz Patel, fuller and outside the line of off stump. Patel pushes it away through the backward point region for a single. 

With three catchers on the legside, one expected de Silva to drift down the pads and give the ball a good rip but he bowled it on the off stump and allowed O'Rourke to get away

Only one wicket separates Sri Lanka from a win. Ajaz Patel has put on a show and half against India when he played in 2021, batting out of his skin to save a Test but this time with the spinners attacking and light being good, he will have to put on a vigil here