Williamson leads New Zealand to a memorable win, beats Sri Lanka by 2 wickets to take series lead

Christchurch: Veteran batsman Kane Williamson (121 not out) scored a century and Darryl Mitchell (81) struck a match-winning half-century as New Zealand registered a two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a thrilling first Test on Sunday. Sri Lanka set New Zealand a target of 285 runs in a match that proved the legitimacy of Test cricket. The hosts achieved this target on the last ball of the match.

New Zealand started the day at 28/1, but rain ruined nearly half the day’s play. New Zealand needed 257 runs to win in 52 overs after rain stopped, while Sri Lanka needed nine wickets in the same number of overs to keep their chances of making the World Test Championship (WTC) final alive. Prabhat Jayasuriya strengthened these possibilities by sending openers Tom Latham (25) and Henry Nicholls (20) to the pavilion on small scores. Williamson, however, held one end of his defense and was joined by Mitchell after the fall of Nicholls. As soon as Mitchell came to the crease, he made his intentions clear by hitting a six off Jayasuriya. Mitchell, who scored a century in the first innings, scored 81 runs in 86 balls, hitting 3 fours and 4 sixes in his fast innings. He shared a 142-run partnership with Williamson for the fourth wicket.