26 Sports Thursday, December 20, 2018 Rain, epic stand save Sri Lanka in New Zealand Test Mendis unbeaten on 141 and Mathews 120 not out at stumps WELLINGTON: Sri Lanka battled to a rain-affected draw skipper Dinesh Chandimal. “They fought hard when the in the first Test against New Zealand yesterday after the situations came.” It was the only time in New Zealand that Black Caps were unable to break an epic stand by Kusal a full day’s play has been completed without a Test wicket Mendis and Angelo Mathews. falling, and the first time anywhere since South Africa The tourists were 287 for three in their second innings- achieved the feat against Bangladesh in Chittagong in still nine runs away from an innings defeat-when the 2008. umpires called time with only 13 overs bowled on the final The partnership was also a Sri Lankan record against day. Mendis was unbeaten on 141 and Mathews 120 not the Black Caps. The draw snaps Sri Lanka’s four-Test los- out at stumps after a stubborn 274-run stand that, along ing streak against the Black Caps on New Zealand soil. It with the weather, allowed Sri Lanka to salvage a draw. will give the world’s sixth-ranked team confidence after New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was left to rue they arrived in New Zealand smarting from a 3-0 Test missed opportunities after controlling the match for three whitewash against England last month. days then failing to land a killer blow. “Obviously it’s a They have also had to contend with disarray in their shame to have the weather around today because we felt if coaching and selection ranks. The fourth-ranked Black we could pick up a wicket and get into their lower order, Caps entered the two-match contest buoyed by their first there was still very much a chance of a result,” he said. away Test series win over Pakistan in 49 years. New Zealand’s early dominance was built on a mam- They are looking for a fourth straight Test series win moth 578 in the first innings, featuring an unbeaten 264 after also defeating England and the West Indies in the from Tom Latham. The left-hander’s career-best effort past 12 months. The second and final Test begins on overhauled former England captain Alastair Cook’s 244 as December 26 in Christchurch, where the tourists have not the highest score by an opener carrying their bat in Test won in three attempts. history. Williamson did not expect the Christchurch pitch to The emphatic performance should have given the New flatten out as it did in Wellington, offering more for his Zealand bowlers two full days to attack a Sri Lanka line-up seamers. Chandimal said his team had benefitted from a that showed little fight in the first innings, but Mathews hit-out in New Zealand conditions but needed to improve and Mendis responded with a masterclass of their own. on the slow starts they made in Wellington. The pair came together late on day three with Sri “When we were batting we lost three early wickets Lanka reeling at 13 for three in their second dig, trailing in both innings and when we were bowling we couldn’t New Zealand’s first inning total by 296. They batted get early wickets,” he said. “So that’s an area we’ll through the whole of day four, fending off a barrage of have to improve as a team... we’ve got a lot of young- bouncers from the New Zealanders. sters in our side, so I’m sure they will learn and exe- WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s Tim Southee (R) holds his leg in pain beside Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews during day five of “Both boys out there showed a lot of character,” said cute their plans.” — AFP the first Test cricket match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in Wellington yesterday. — AFP order of a team with a lengthy tail, and number three trapped LBW in 11 of his last 14 innings. India batting Opening woes Cheteshwar Pujara has had to walk out to bat inside four coach Sanjay Bangar lamented last month that the open- overs on three of the four occasions. er was “finding new ways to get out” and many believe Opening stands made telling difference in Perth, where Rahul needs to work out the flaws with his technique. continue to Australia prevailed by 146 runs to square the four-test Opening partner Vijay has not covered himself in glory ‘Disrespectful, series. The 112-run first innings stand between Marcus either on his return to the squad after he and fellow blight India Harris and Aaron Finch laid the platform for Australia’s opener Shikhar Dhawan were dropped following modest silly’ Kohli blasted 300-plus total in a low-scoring contest and they raised 59 returns in England. Down Under in the second to help set India a target which the tourists Vijay has managed 49 runs from four innings but may at home and abroad could not achieve. still continue as opener purely because India have lost Rahul, who has managed 48 in four innings, has looked the exciting Prithvi Shaw to an ankle injury for the NEW DELHI: Captain Virat Kohli has thrown his weight like a sitting duck, with batting great Sunil Gavaskar entire series. “I’m sure those guys have figured out NEW DELHI: Indian captain Virat Kohli faced stiff crit- behind India’s struggling openers but the tourists’ defeat in demanding the 26-year-old be sent home to work on his what’s gone wrong in this game especially and they’re icism both Down Under and at home yesterday after his Perth showed they have yet to find a solution to their top game. “I think he should come back and play Ranji Trophy very keen to correct it themselves,” Kohli said in Perth side’s crushing loss to Australia in the second Test. order woes. for Karnataka,” the former India captain told Aaj Tak of his misfiring openers. Former Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson called Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay have managed only one channel. “It is not just that he is out of form, he is just not The tourists have flown in Mayank Agarwal as replace- Kohli “disrespectful” and “silly” over his heated double-digit stand midway through the four-Test series in there and you can see that.” ment, rewarding the uncapped opener for his consistency exchanges with fellow skipper Tim Paine during the Australia, hardly the starts that would help bring India a Rahul has not managed a fifty in his last seven Test in domestic cricket. The series shifts to the traditional Perth Test. first test series win Down Under. outings and equally worrying has been the manner of his Boxing Day Test in Melbourne followed by the finale in Former India great Sunil Gavaskar meanwhile hit out Their struggles have intensified pressure on the middle dismissals, with the right hander either bowled or Sydney. — Reuters at “selection blunders” and the Indian Express daily slammed Kohli’s “explicit lack of confidence” in some of his players. Kohli and Paine exchanged barbs, at one point prompting intervention from the umpire, during in March this year. Shakib showed dissent while batting the game that Australia won by 146 runs on Tuesday to Bangladesh’s after the umpire did not call a wide in the 14th over of the level the four-match series 1-1. Bangladesh innings. Shaw ruled out of It was reported that Kohli belittled Paine as just “a Shakib fined for “He first shouted at the umpire and then got involved in stand-in captain”-a claim angrily denied by India’s team a prolonged discussion,” said an ICC statement issued late Australia series management. The retired Johnson said the famously Tuesday. combative Kohli’s antics were unnecessary. shouting at umpire “After the end of the match, Shakib admitted the “At the end of the match, you should be able to look offence and accepted the sanction,” it said, adding no for- PERTH: Young Indian batting phenomenon Prithvi each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great con- mal hearing was required. Shaw has been ruled out for the final two Tests test’,” he wrote in a column for Fox Sports. “Virat Kohli DHAKA: Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was fined 15 Shakib scored 61 off 43 balls in the game in Sylhet but against Australia after failing to recover from an ankle could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian percent of his match fee for shouting at the umpire during could not prevent a humiliating loss for his side. injury picked up during a warm-up game before the captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. Monday’s opening Twenty20 international against West West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 129 and series began. To me, that is disrespectful. Indies, the International Cricket Council said. knocked off the target with 55 balls in hand to take Team management had previously suggested the “Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers Shakib was also handed one demerit point, his second 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second and 19-year-old, who scored a sparkling debut century simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a such penalty since the introduction of the system in third matches will be held in Dhaka today and against the West Indies in October and has been pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking sil- September 2016, for the offence during hosts’ eight-wicket Saturday.