Kamindu Mendis maintained his red-hot form and struck a majestic 114 to power Sri Lanka to 302/7 on the opening day of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday.
Electing to bat, Sri Lanka slumped to 106/4 in the opener of the two-Test series, but Kamindu’s fourth Test hundred ensured the hosts breached the 300-mark.
Ramesh Mendis was batting on 14 at stumps with Prabath Jayasuriya at the other end at the Galle International Stadium.
Earlier, New Zealand speedster William O’Rourke (3/54) demolished the Sri Lankan top order with his unbridled aggression.
Dimuth Karunaratne (2) was done in by the extra bounce O’Rourke generated while Pathum Nissanka (27) succumbed to a searing yorker.
Angelo Mathews (36) combined with Dinesh Chandimal (30) to arrest the slide but had to leave the field after getting his right index finger bruised by another O’Rourke delivery.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee removed Chandimal, while his Sri Lanka counterpart Dhananjaya de Silva (11) fell to Glenn Phillips, who struck with his second delivery of the Test.
Mathews returned only to be dismissed by O’Rourke at the stroke of tea.
Kamindu went into the match with seven 50-plus scores in 10 Test innings and got a reprieve on 21 when Phillips spilled a fairly easy catch at mid wicket.
The left-hander drove spinner Rachin Ravindra through cover to bring up his hundred, which earned the 25-year-old a standing ovation from his teammates in the dressing room.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 302/7 (Kamindu Mendis 114, Kusal Mendis 50; William O’Rourke 3/54) vs New Zealand. At Stumps, Day I.
Written with Reuters inputs
