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Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 5: Sri Lanka win by six wickets after skipper Karunaratne scores 122
Sri Lanka were led by skipper Karunaratne as he struck 122 to go 1-0 up in the series
Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 6 wickets at Galle in the first Test match to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. Chasing a total of 268, the hosts were helped by skipper Dimuth Karunaratne's 122 as he team got over the line in the first session of Day 5.
The Asian team started the last day of the Test on an overnight total of 133/0. Openers Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne added 18 more runs before the latter was sent back by William Somerville. Ajaz Patel struck soon after to send back Kusal Mendis. Angelo Matthews, however, managed to get together with Karunaratne, who struck his ninth Test hundred. It was the first time in his Test career that he got a hundred in the fourth innings of the game.
When Karunaratne was finally dismissed, Sri Lanka only needed 50 runs for a win.
Kusal Perera then ensured that the scoring rate was increased after a couple of good hits to the boundary, but he was dismissed eventually by Trent Boult. With the match nearing its end, the first session was extended by 30 minutes. In the end, Matthews and Dananjaya de Silva helped Lanka over the line as they went one up in the series.
