New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka in the second Test by an innings and 58 runs at Basin Reserve in Wellington to capture the two-matღch series 2-0.
Former captain Kane Williamson and batter Henry Nicholls were the heroes behind the massive victory, with both players 𒅌smashiꦕng their respective double-centuries. The duo set the tone for the Black Caps as they posted an enormous first innings total of 580/4. While Williamson made 215 with the help of 23 fours and 2 sixes, Nicholls remained unbeaten on 200, including 15 fours and 4 maximums.
Like the batting unit, New Zealand’s bowlers also put up a spellbinding show as they bowled out the tourists twice over the last two days. The Islanders were bowled out for 164 in the first innings, with only skipper Dimuth Karunaratne standing tall. The Lankan star smashed 89 off 188 balls, including 9 boundaries. Matt Henry (3/44) and Michael Bracewell (3/50) were the pick ofꦉ the bowlers, bagging a 3-w🎐icket haul each.
The visitors were then asked to follow on, and the Sri Lankan batters did a relatively good job in their second innings, but it wasn’t enough to sail them over. Dhananjaya de Silva was the star with the bat and missed out on a century by two runs. S𒁏imilarly, the other batters chipped in with handy fifties, but the first innings deficit was so massive that it was quite challenging to t🤪urn the tables.
Blair Tickner broke a few solid partnerships, and captain Tim Southee too, claimed three wickets as he cleaned up the tail to finish the proceedings. While Tick💙ner bagged 3 for 84, Southee went on to pick 3 for 51.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Your Dulux Player of the Series, Kane Williamson.
– 337 runs
– 168.50 average
– 215 highest score
– 150 litres of Dulux paint for Te Puke Cricket Club.— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS)
A fighting knock by DDS,✃ he missed out on a century by two runs..
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC)
Ne🎐w Zealand have defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 58 runs. A 2-0 victory for New Zealand.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra)
If you can't beat 'em, irritate 'em.
Can't fault the effort from the tail all series. Today, No. 8-11 faced 215 deliveries (Rajitha 110, Jayasuriya & Kumara 45 each, Fernando 15*)
— Estelle Vasudevan (@Estelle_Vasude1)
Dinesh Chandimal🧸 🇱🇰 completed 10,000 run𝕴s in International cricket, one of the best in this generation,
He is 9th Sri Lankan player to ꦍac🧜hieve this feat. Congratulations Chandi 👏
— Thurunu Jayasiri (@ThurunuJ)
And New Zealand complete the innings win in the last over of the day…
But very very🐼 good resistance from Sri Lanka to play 142 overs for 358 runs.NZ win the series 2-0
— Abhijeet ♞ (@TheYorkerBall)
Kane Williamson in last 4 Test innings:
•132(282).
•1(11).
•121*(194).
•215(296).
•MOM award vs ENG in 2nd Test.
•MOS award vs SL in Test series.Kane Williamson – The Greatest of New Zealand cricket.
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh)
New Zealand won the 2nd Test by an innings & 58 runs to take the series 2-0 Sri Lanka. Captain Southee 3/51 got the last wkt & wrapped up the match to register 1st series 𝔉win as captain. Nicholls named POTM & Kane Williamson was awarded POTS as the leading run scorer (337) 👏
— Ayesha⁶⁶ (@JoeRoot66Fan)
First home test series win 🅷for the since January 2021. showed some real grit on day 4. My take on a "whirlwind" day at the
— Rahul Patil (@rahulpatilnz)
beat
2 Match Series 2-0 🇳🇿Player of the Series – (337 Runs, 2 Matches) Alert – 2500 Test Matches Completed 🏏
— Nishant Dravid (@nishantdravid73)
Kane Williamson in last 4 Test innings:
•132(282).
•1(11).
•121*(194).
•215(296).
•MOM award vs ENG in 2nd Test.
•MOS award vs SL in Test series.Kane Williamson – The Greatest of New Zealand cricket.
— ADARSH PATIL (@patilladarsh18)
The Kiwis have produced a lot of great yet underrated cricketers, Tim Southee 🐻being one 🙏
— Manisha Karan (@ManishaKaran1)
Complete domination by team Newzealand 👏
Newzealand defeated Srilanka by an innings and 58 runs to win the 2nd test and the series by 2-0.
Kane Williamson won player of🐎 the series award 💕 |— 𝐆𝐥𝐞𝐧 (@SquareDrive_)
