Ajaz Patel finished with figures of 5-76 off 29 overs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Ajaz Patel carved through Sri Lanka’s batting line-up with a five-wicket haul to help New Zealand fight back on the second day of the first Test in Galle.
Starting off the day on 203/5, New Zealand only added two runs to their overnight score before Ross Taylor was caught behind off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal for a 132-ball 86, which included six boundaries.
Lakmal took out Mitchell Santner soon after, while Tim Southee was run out for 14.
Lakmal then removed Trent Boult and Patel in consecutive deliveries to bowl New Zealand out for 249.
Akila Dananjaya was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets, which he picked up on the first day, while Lakmal chipped in with four.
Trailing by 249 runs, Sri Lanka lost opener Lahiru Thirimanne early on as he was stumped by BJ Watling off the bowling of Patel for 10 runs.
Captain Dimuth Karunaratne managed to score 39 before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Patel.
Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews stabilised the innings with a 77-run partnership, during which Mendis brought up his fifty, before he was dismissed by Patel for 53, which came off 89 balls and included seven boundaries and a six.
Boult sent Kusal Perera packing shortly after, while Patel took out Dhananjaya de Silva for five runs and Mathews for 50, which came off 98 deliveries and included seven boundaries and a six.
William Somerville added to Sri Lanka’s woes as he removed Dananjaya for a duck.
With Sri Lanka struggling at 161/7, Niroshan Dickwella and Lakmal came to the rescue as they amassed an unbeaten 66-run partnership before stumps was called.
Dickwella finished on 39, which came off 74 balls and included a boundary, while Lakmal remained undefeated on 28, which came off 79 deliveries and included two boundaries and a six.
Patel was the most successful bowler with five wickets, while Somerville and Boult claimed one wicket each.
Sri Lanka ended day two on 227/7, which leaves them trailing by 22 runs, and will continue batting on Friday at 10:00 local time or 04:30 GMT.