First Test. Caps v. Lankans. Galle.

[Pies4shaw]

[K]

BBIT? Shouldn't it be "BBITW"?

[K]

SL 0/133 at stumps.

[K]

SL 4/268 (86.1).

Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets.

POTM: Dimuth Karunaratne, who scored 122 in SL's 2nd innings.

[K]

V. Shetty, cricinfo:

"Dimuth Karunaratne played a big part in preserving his perfect record as Test captain as Sri Lanka brought up their third consecutive win since he took over, brushing New Zealand aside with a six-wicket win on the fifth day and picking up the full 60 points in their first World Test Championship match. In the process, Karunaratne also brought up his first century in 23 innings and his ninth overall as the hosts bested the previous record chase in Galle - 99 - by some distance."


The previous record chase was 99?!

I wonder how many Tests have been played at Galle.

[Pies4shaw]

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/team/match_results.html?class=1;id=847;type=ground

On the positive side, it's New Zealand's best result at Galle. The others were L (innings and 16 runs), L (202 runs), L (10 wickets).

[K]

Thanks. I think that's 36 Tests so far -- quite a lot for such a stunning statistic.

Scyld Berry, in his article on the points system, says:

"No disrespect to Sri Lanka, but they simply did – with three spinners on a turner at Galle – exactly what they usually do to visiting teams at Galle. What is more, New Zealand's batsmen went into that first Test without having faced a single ball on their tour of Sri Lanka. Their single warm-up game was washed out after one day, when they only bowled."

[K]

"Sri Lanka offspinner Akila Dananjaya has been reported for a suspect action for the second time in ten months...

Also reported for a suspect action following the Galle Test was Kane Williamson, ... who delivered three overs of offspin on the final day of the match ... He had also previously failed a biomechanics assessment, but this was back in 2014. As such, a failed assessment for him will not result in a 12-month suspension from bowling...

Dananjaya had undergone remedial work since his initial suspension, announced in December 2018, and had had his action cleared early this year. ...

Of the three variations Dananjaya bowls, it is believed to be his stock ball - the offbreak - that has most frequently raised the umpires' suspicions.

Sri Lanka's second Test against New Zealand begins on Thursday. Both Dananjaya and Williamson will be allowed to bowl in that game, as it falls within the 14-day window granted to bowlers who have had their actions reported."

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27423795/akila-dananjaya-risks-suspension-being-reported-suspect-action-again

[K]

S. Rajesh, cricinfo, reports that Karunaratne was lucky in his match-winning innings:

"He survived three chances - a drop by BJ Watling on 49, another drop by Tom Latham on 58, and a missed stumping at the same score. Apart from those clear chances, there were several instances when he played and missed, or when he played shots he wasn't in control of. ... Karunaratne was in control of only 78.6% of the deliveries he faced in that innings."

The batsmen with the highest control % in Tests since Jan 2017 (minimum 1000 runs):

Kane Williamson 91.1
Tom Latham 88.8
Steven Smith 88.3
Aiden Markram 87.7
Cheteshwar Pujara 87.2.