Sri Lanka crush New Zealand to clinch historic series win

Sri Lanka stormed to a series victory over New Zealand securing the twomatch SL vs NZ Test series with a resounding innings and 154run triumph on the fourth day in Galle on SundayThis victory Sri Lankas most dominant over the Kiwis also marks their first win against New Zealand in 15 yearsThe hero of the games leftarm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya was named Player of the Series after a masterful performance claiming 18 wickets across the two matchesMeanwhile Kamindu Mendis took home Man of the Match honours for his unbeaten 182 anchoring Sri Lankas colossal total of 6025 declaredWith this knock Mendis etched his name in history joining the great Sir Don Bradman as the third jointfastest player to reach 1000 test runsJayasuriya who took nine wickets in the first test was at his best again snaring another nine wickets in the second test as New Zealands batters struggled to cope with Sri Lankas spinheavy attack Debutant Nishan Peiris was the perfect foil chipping in with nine wickets of his own including a fivewicket haul in the second inningsldquoWe discussed the need to score big in the first innings That has been something that has been worrying us for a while Glad we rectified that this inningsrdquo said Sri Lanka captain Dananjaya de SilvaAlso ReadNo Rishabh Pant as India name T20 squad for Bangladesh seriesldquoThe spinners were superb They kept creating pressure and didnt allow New Zealand to get away with things It was a superb display Thats how we want to compete in home conditions dominate the opposition from ball onerdquo he addedNew Zealands woes began early bundled out for a paltry 88 in their first innings Forced to follow on the Kiwis showed more fight in their second innings posting 360 ndash their highest total of the tour and in Galle ndash but it was too little too lateTom Blundell Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner all contributed halfcenturies in the second innings but the tourists needed far more to challenge Sri Lankas dominanceResuming at 1995 New Zealand lost three wickets before lunch on the fourth day of the SL vs NZ Test series Despite Sri Lankas fielding lapses which saw three catches dropped they eventually cleaned up after lunch Jayasuriya removed Ajaz Patel and Peiris took the final scalp of Santner stumped by Kusal Mendis sealing the series win for Sri LankaldquoWe had our moments in the series but disappointed with the end resultrdquo said New Zealand captain Tim Southee That morning session on day three when we lost nine wickets was very disappointingldquoThere were dropped catches and missed stumpings as well in the Sri Lankan innings and in these conditions when you dont hold onto those chances it is very difficultrdquo With this victory Sri Lanka has now won three consecutive test matches and bolstered their hopes of qualifying for the ICC World Test Championship final at Lords next JuneWith agency inputs