New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka: Winners and Losers from 1st Test
New Zealand opened their home summer with a 122-run victory in the first Test of the series against Sri Lanka.
Brendon McCullum's Black Caps wrapped up the win in the afternoon session on Day 5 at the University Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The Sri Lankans—who had been behind in the game once the hosts piled on 409 for eight on the opening day—threatened to salvage a draw when captain Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal were together.
The pair put on 56 for the fourth wicket until Neil Wagner removed Mathews on the last day, opening the door to victory.
New Zealand barged their way through it, as they took the last seven wickets in 24.5 overs either side of lunch.
The two teams now move on to Seddon Park, Hamilton, for the second and final Test.
Before that starts on Friday, December 18, Bleacher Report picks out the winners and losers from the opening match.
Winners: New Zealand's Openers
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New Zealand's opening pair of Martin Guptill and Tom Latham both struck hundreds in the match.
Guptill—who endured a lean time of it on the recent tour of Australia, finishing with only 82 runs—made 156 on Day 1.
According to OptaJim on Twitter, he was long overdue a ton in the longest format: "Martin Guptill has ended a run of 40 innings without a Test century; last recording one back in November 2011 (v Zimbabwe). Oasis."
Latham, meanwhile, made his three-figure score in the home side's second innings, hitting an unbeaten 109 to help the Kiwis build a big lead that allowed captain Brendon McCullum to declare.
It was the opener's first century in Test cricket on home soil, as his previous two both came in the United Arab Emirates in 2014.
Losers: Sri Lanka's Seamers
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When Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and put the home side into bat on the first morning, his plan wasn't probably to leak over 400 runs before the close.
However, the visiting bowling attack—minus the services of the injured Dhammika Prasad—failed to make the most of their opportunity early on Day 1.
Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera were all guilty of searching too hard for wickets, allowing New Zealand to get off to a fast start.
Mathews admitted he was disappointed with the pace bowlers in his post-match quotes, per Andrew Fidel Fernando of ESPN Cricinfo: "On that wicket, if there was anything it, it in was in the first couple of sessions. After winning the toss on a green wicket, I expected a lot more from the bowlers."
Winner: Dinesh Chandimal
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Replacing Mahela Jayawardene is a tall order for any Sri Lankan batsman, but Dinesh Chandimal did his best at four in the order with a pair of half-centuries in Dunedin.
The right-hander made 83 in his side's first innings, falling without adding to his overnight total on Day 3 when he edged seamer Tim Southee to Martin Guptill in the slips.
In the second innings, Chandimal again stood firm for Sri Lanka. The 26-year-old combined with his captain, Angelo Mathews, on the fifth morning to raise hopes of a draw.
However, both well-set batsmen fell with the score on 165. After Mathews was bowled by Neil Wagner, Chandimal perished leg before wicket for 58.
He shouldered arms to a delivery from left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner that drifted in with the arm, and he was eventually given out on review.
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Loser: Udara Jayasundera
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Left-hander Udara Jayasundera's Test debut didn't quite go according to plan.
The batsman—picked at three in Sri Lanka's order, a position previously occupied by the legendary Kumar Sangakkara—made just four runs in two knocks.
He fell to left-arm paceman Neil Wagner twice. Having edged a cut behind in the first innings, he was caught down the leg side second time around.
Jayasundera had gone into the match off the back of a half-century in the tour fixture against a New Zealand Board President's XI, but he found the going a little tougher against the first-choice Kiwi attack.
Winner: Neil Wagner
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Neil Wagner finished the match with five wickets, but his performance was about more than just the numbers.
The left-armer's most important breakthrough came on Day 5, as he picked up the wicket of Angelo Mathews—bowled through his legs trying to pad up to a delivery—to end a stubborn fourth-wicket stand.
ESPN Cricinfo's George Binoy opened his Day 5 report with the following paragraph: "In conditions where the old ball did nothing and New Zealand's three first-choice quicks produced innocuous medium-pace, Neil Wagner ran in relentlessly with tremendous stamina, sending down a barrage of short deliveries, harrying the batsmen at around 140 kph and broke Sri Lanka's resistance."
It was a fine return to Test action for Wagner, whose last appearance in the format had been the Boxing Day game against the same opponents almost a year ago.
Dylan Cleaver of the NZ Herald is certainly a big fan of the paceman: "Wagner plays with an energy that is infectious. He bowls some really bad spells, but he never bowls a flat spell."
Loser: Doug Bracewell
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Doug Bracewell wrapped up the win for New Zealand by taking a return catch from Suranga Lakmal—but that was the seamer's only wicket of the Test.
He did not bowl badly, as pointed out by David Leggat of the NZ Herald: "His figures were misleading. Two catches were spilled off him and he bowled without luck."
However, after a tough tour to Australia (where he took six wickets at an average of 52.57), Bracewell's match return of one for 88 was the poorest of the four Kiwi quicks in action.
New Zealand are unlikely to always pick so many front-line seamers. All-rounders Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham are currently sidelined, while the hosts could opt for another spinner in the second Test.
Bracewell has been the favoured third seamer in recent times, but the performance of Neil Wagner in Dunedin has put his place under serious threat.
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