CHRISTCHURCH: A stubborn Daryl Mitchell century and a rollicking 72 from Matt Henry boosted New Zealand to a slim first-innings lead over Sri Lanka in the first Test on Saturday.
New Zealand were all out for 373 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 355 on day three in Christchurch.
The tourists went in for tea at nine without loss in their second innings, with Dimuth Karunaratne on eight and Oshada Fernando unbeaten on one.
Sri Lanka, who need to sweep the series to keep their hopes of making the World Test Championship final alive, had New Zealand in trouble at 151 for five on the second day.
But Mitchell, who has so often been New Zealand’s saviour in his 17-Test career, refused to give in as he toiled through 193 deliveries for his eighth century.
The 31-year-old right-hander, son of former All Blacks player and coach John Mitchell, lifted his average to a remarkable 58 from 25 innings.
After New Zealand’s top order had struggled, Mitchell put on 54 for the sixth wicket with Michael Bracewell, a further 47 with Tim Southee and 55 with Henry.
Mitchell leapt in the air, waved his bat and received a hug from Henry to celebrate his milestone but added only two more runs before was caught behind off Lahiru Kumara and New Zealand were 291 for eight.
Henry then exploded and his personal-best 72 came primarily from boundaries, with 10 fours and three sixes.
Seventeen runs off one Dhananjaya de Silva over saw the spinner belted out of the attack. But worse was to come for Sri Lanka when his replacement Kasun Rajitha conceded 24 to Henry in his first over.
The third-day wicket did offer assistance to the bowlers, with Rajitha and Asitha Fernando both getting movement early in the day.
Leading up to the drinks break, Bracewell, who had seemed the more settled of the New Zealand overnight pair, was undone by the introduction of left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.
An appeal for lbw was turned down with reviews showing height was an issue, but with his next delivery Jayasuriya found an edge and Bracewell was caught behind for 25.
Southee brought up New Zealand’s 200, belting Jayasuriya over the mid-wicket fence and continued to swing until the third over with the new ball when he was out to a diving catch by Kumara at square leg.
The New Zealand captain had smashed back-to-back fours off Rajitha but his attempt at a third fell short and he was out for 25 off 20 deliveries.
For Sri Lanka, Fernando returned the best figures of four for 85 while Kumara took three for 76.
