New Zealand set 275 to win after Ajaz Patel six-for

(9.2 ov, T:275) 340 & 32/1

Lunch New Zealand 340 and 13 for 1 (Latham 5*, Williamson 4*, Asitha 1-5) need 262 runs to beat Sri Lanka 305 and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Mathews 50, Ajaz 6-90)

Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 72 runs as New Zealand wrapped up the Lankan second innings inside the morning session on day four of this first Test in Galle. It meant they have been set a target of 275 to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

New Zealand needed to negotiate just five overs before lunch, but lost the wicket of Devon Conway, who chopped on one from Asitha Fernando that jagged in sharply from a good length outside off. Prabath Jayasuriya also got a few to grip and turn from an increasingly volatile surface, but New Zealand made it to break without any further damage, 262 runs from victory.

Ajaz Patel was undoubtedly the star of the session, grabbing five wickets in a little over an hour to finish with figures of 6 for 90. William O’Rourke, who bowled a slightly off colour spell with the second new ball, ended with figures of 3 for 49.

The only bright spark for Sri Lanka was Angelo Mathews reaching a 43rd Test fifty in an otherwise scratchy knock, but it was all New Zealand aside from that. With play continuing following a rest day owing to Sri Lanka’s presidential elections held on Saturday, and in front of a sparse crowd limited by an island-wide curfew (due to election vote counting), New Zealand wasted little time in breaking a burgeoning 72-run between Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva.

Ajaz, who had started the session well with probing lines and lengths – and good use of the cross-breeze – had de Silva out stumped in just the fourth over of the morning, four overs before the second new ball was due.

One ball prior to his dismissal de Silva had come down the track and missed the flight of one outside off. The turn and bounce on that had deceived both the keeper and first slip, to reprieve the Lankan skipper. But he would have no such luck one delivery later, again being beaten by the drift, dip and turn, but this time unable to slide his back foot back into the crease before Tom Blundell whipped off the bails.

Kusal Mendis joined Mathews in the middle, and the pair proceeded to put on a fairly quick fire 36-run stand, but three overs into the second new ball Mendis shouldered arms to one from Ajaz outside off, only for it to deflect on to his stumps off his elbow.

Mathews, with Ramesh Mendis for company, became the third half-centurion of the innings, but was dismissed shortly after, edging an attempted forward defence off Ajaz through to first slip where Daryl Mitchell just about got his fingers under the ball for a good, low grab.

On a five-for, Ajaz didn’t have to wait for long to achieve the feat, trapping Ramesh in front off a missed sweep, before swiftly getting his sixth a few balls later as Lahiru Kumara chipped an easy one to mid-off.

Prabath Jayasuriya put forward a valiant effort to stir up some quick runs, with a pair of boundaries off Tim Southee, but Mitchell Santner – bowling his first over of the day – needed just two deliveries to end his cameo, as he was out caught sweeping at long-on.