Prabath Jayasuriya was made to work hard for his wickets in the first Test. Even when he ended up with figures of 4 for 136 in the first innings there, they had at one point been ingloriously perched at 1 for 99. Second time out he got his customary Galle five-for, and that was down

Lunch New Zealand 3 for 1 (Conway 2*, Peiris 1-1) and 88 (Santner 29, Jayasuriya 6-42, Peiris 3-33) trail Sri Lanka 602 for 6 dec by 511 runs Sri Lanka had a bash on a sunny morning, as New Zealand folded for 88, their lowest all-out Test total in reply to the hosts’ 602 on

There are rough days and then there are rough days, and then there is whatever it was that New Zealand endured on day two in Galle. The only thing that seemed to go right for them was the weather because if not for the persistent overcast conditions, it really would have been a day of

Lunch Sri Lanka 402 for 5 (Kamindu 93*, Mathews 88, de Silva 44, Phillips 3-65) vs New Zealand The weather had darkened, and there was more turn on offer for the spinners, but Sri Lanka’s dominance continued just the same as they extended their first innings total to 402 for 5, at lunch on day

LunchSri Lanka 102 for 1 (Chandimal 60*, Karunartne 40*, Southee 1-30) vs New Zealand With strikingly different approaches, Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal gave Sri Lanka a positive start in the second Test, putting together a century stand for the second wicket before lunch in Galle. Chandimal was the more aggressive of the two and

You win the toss, you bat. When it comes to playing a Test in Galle, that is not so much as received wisdom as it as an etched in stone eleventh commandment. While this might on the face of it seem a ploy to get the best of the batting conditions, in actuality, it’s more

Defending champions Auckland Aces will face 2021-22 and 2022-23 winners Northern Districts in the opening fixture of the men’s Super Smash 2024-25 which begins on Boxing Day at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Earlier in the day, Northern Brave will take on Auckland Hearts at the same venue to kickstart the women’s Super Smash. The defending

New Zealand tend not to do especially well in Galle. Of their five Test defeats from as many games at the ground, one has been by an innings, another by ten wickets, and one more by 202 runs. Their latest Test at the venue, which ended in a 63-run defeat to Sri Lanka on Monday,

Sri Lanka 305 (Kamindu 114, O’Rourke 5-55, Phillips 2-52) and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Ajaz 6-90, O’Rourke 3-49) beat New Zealand 340 (Latham 70, Jayasuriya 4-136, Ramesh 3-101) and 211 (Ravindra 92, Jayasuriya 5-68, Ramesh 3-83) by 63 runs Sri Lanka didn’t need long on the final morning in Galle to wrap things up, taking just

If you’re a batter, your first Test at one of the most trying venues on the planet tends not to go well for you. Rachin Ravindra, though, is proving across formats, that he’s not your run-of-the-mill batter out of New Zealand. His fourth-innings vanguard, which by the end of day four has brought him 91

Ajaz Patel has 70 Test wickets at 28.50, but he has only featured in 17 of the 45 Tests New Zealand have played since his debut. This is down to New Zealand’s seam-focused strategy at home. If they need a spinner at all on pitches that tend to start out with plenty of grass on

Lunch New Zealand 340 and 13 for 1 (Latham 5*, Williamson 4*, Asitha 1-5) need 262 runs to beat Sri Lanka 305 and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Mathews 50, Ajaz 6-90) Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 72 runs as New Zealand wrapped up the Lankan second innings inside the morning session on day four of

“I thought there was a run. Daryll trusted my call. It was a pretty good throw. At the end of the day, run-outs in Test cricket are not exactly ideal. I take full accountability for it, and hopefully on another day I make a different decision.” Glenn Phillips isn’t the kind to mince words, especially

For the first time in six years, New Zealand’s domestic season will begin with the Ford Trophy, the men’s 50-over competition, instead of the Plunket Shield. NZC announced the domestic fixtures for 2024-25 on Friday, with the season set to begin on October 20 with three rounds of matches in the Ford Trophy. Defending champions

Lunch New Zealand 5 for 0 (Conway 4*, Latham 1*) trail Sri Lanka 305 (Kamindu 114, Kusal 50, O’Rourke 5-55) by 300 runs New Zealand needed little time to get the remaining three Sri Lanka wickets on the second morning in Galle, as the hosts were bowled out for 305, adding just three runs to

In his first outing as a red-ball bowler in Asia, Will O’Rourke was a menace. In his first spell, when the pitch was at its bounciest, he was rapid – sometimes breaching 140kph, and generated uncomfortable bounce from his six-foot-four-inch frame. His first Test wicket in the continent came from a bouncer, with experienced opener

Toss Sri Lanka opt to bat vs New Zealand Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test against New Zealand in Galle. The hosts had confirmed their playing XI in the lead-up to the game, and made two changes from the side that last played in the final Test

New Zealand might not have played a Test since March but they will have little time to get up to speed ahead of a packed Test schedule to close out the year. September’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka will be followed by a three-Test tour of India in October and November, before they head back

Big picture: Shades of 2019 in 2024 A lot has happened since New Zealand last toured Sri Lanka. Back then, in 2019, the world was yet to be introduced to Covid-19, while the Lankans were only just recovering from Rangana Herath‘s retirement. Fast forward to the present, the pandemic is firmly in the rearview while

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has said that being denied the opportunity to get some game-time after a six-month gap in Test cricket is the “most disappointing part” after their one-off Test against Afghanistan was called off without a ball bowled. New Zealand had this match to familiarise themselves with the subcontinent conditions, with

The first ever Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand ended on a sad but predictable note as the game was called off without a ball being bowled. It was only the eighth such instance in the Test history and the first since 1998. There was an air of inevitability around the call after there was

Rain and the state of the outfield at Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground rendered the third day of the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand a non-starter. Play was abandoned as early as 9.15 am. With no play possible on either of the first two days, and the toss yet to happen, the chances

Several slushy pockets in the Greater Noida Sports Complex ground along with drainage that has been overwhelmed by constant rainfall have prevented the one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand from taking off. For the second straight day, there was no play possible, not even a toss, and there is growing fear that the entire

The second day of the only Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand suffered the same miserable fate as the first due to rain in Greater Noida, albeit not during hours of play, and the quality of the outfield. The toss was scheduled half an hour earlier at 9am, to make up for day one being

New Zealand will be boosted by the return of fast bowler Rosemary Mair for the women’s T20 World Cup 2024, after she suffered a back injury during their home series against England in March. Meanwhile, their captain Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates are set to play their ninth T20 World Cup when the competition begins

The first day of Test match between New Zealand and Afghanistan at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to wet outfield. The weather played fair all day, with the sun shining down on the ground. However, the drainage facilities could not dry out the playing area in

Big picture: Back at it after a break When New Zealand last played Afghanistan, during the T20 World Cup in June, they suffered a defeat so catastrophic it precipitated a rare group-stage exit from an ICC tournament. That match was in Providence, Guyana, on the other side of the planet from where the teams are

New Zealand are about to embark on a period where they will play six Tests in two months. That’s rare, on two counts. First, that’s almost a whole year’s work for them – like in 2020 and 2021, when they went on to become the inaugural World Test Champions. And second, all of those matches

Imagine being a frontline spinner from a country that is known to produce world-class fast bowlers. Imagine then touring a tough place like India and grabbing a historic all-ten in only your 11th Test. Now imagine still not becoming a frontline spinner for your team and getting to feature in only five of the next

Rangana Herath and Vikram Rathour have linked up with the New Zealand Test squad, who are set to play six Tests in Asia over the next two months. Herath will be the spin-bowling coach for New Zealand’s next three Tests – one against Afghanistan and two in Sri Lanka – while Rathour will only be