Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya spun a web around New Zealand’s batsmen, getting each of the five wickets on a downpour abbreviated opening day of the primary test in Galle on Wednesday.
Experienced batsman Ross Taylor held firm with an unbeaten 86 against the trickiness of Dananjaya to take the visiting side to 203 for five when downpour constrained early stumps. Mitchell Santner was the other unbeaten batsman at the wrinkle on eight.
The two sides chosen three spinners for the Galle pitch and the 25-year-old Dananjaya, who in the past has been suspended from bowling in global cricket for an illicit bowling activity, had a brisk effect.
After New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the hurl and batted, the opening pair included 64 preceding Dananjaya struck twice in about four conveyances to send back Tom Latham (30) and Williamson, who was rejected without scoring.
Dananjaya then actuated an edge from Jeet Raval to reject the other opener for 33 at the stroke of the mid-day break to decrease New Zealand to 71 for three.
Taylor, a veteran of 93 tests, arranged a battle back for the Black Caps with Henry Nicholls and included 100 for the fourth wicket before Dananjaya expelled the last mentioned.
Nicholls neglected to interface a scope shot and was out leg before for 42 and BJ Watling before long went along with him in the changing area in the wake of being out in comparable style to hand the off-spinner his fourth five-wicket pull in tests.
The two-test arrangement, with the subsequent match set for Colombo, is the first for the two groups in the recently propelled World Test Championship, which highlights the best nine test-playing countries contending in a class crosswise over two years.
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