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Patna : Captain Dumuth Karunaratne hit 122 in 243 balls with 6 four and a six, his 9th test century, and his opening partner Lahiru Thirimanne scored 64 in 163 balls 4 four as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 6 wickets on Day 5 in the first test at Galle International Stadium, Galle, on August 18, 2019. Chasing a difficult 4th innings target of 268, Sri Lanka scored 268/4 to win the first test. It was Karunaratne’s 2nd century against New Zealand and 3rd at Galle. Karunaratne was declared Player of the Match. Sri Lanka now lead the two-match test series 1-0.
Resuming at their overnight of 133/0 with Karunaratne batting on 71 and Thirimmane batting on 57, Sri Lanka lost their first wicket at 161 when Thirimanne fell to spinner William Somerville. Kusal Mendis fell to spinner Ajaj Patel for 10 making it 174/2. Karunaratne fell to fast bowler Tim Southee for 122 making it 218/3. Kusal Perera fell to fast bowler Trent Boult for 23 making 250/4. Angelo Matthews remained unbeaten on 28 in 73 balls with 2 fours while Dhananjaya de Silva remained unbeaten on 14.
New Zealand had made 249 in their first innings and 285 in second. Sri Lanka made 267 in their first innings and 268/4 in 86.1 ovders in second innings.