Prabath Jayasuriya took five wickets to steer Sri Lanka to a 63-run win Monday against New Zealand on the final morning of the first Test in Galle.
Set a target of 275 to win, the Black Caps were bowled out for 211 less than 15 minutes after play resumed, with Rachin Ravindra top-scoring on 92.
“When you come to Galle, all that you need to do is to stick to the basics,” said man-of-the-match Jayasuriya.
“The wicket delivers plenty of assistance and you just need to bowl with discipline. Your consistency is the key and there was a lot of help from the rest of the spinners as well.”
Ravindra had finished on Sunday engage in a lone battle on a sharply turning pitch in Galle, where the tourists had lost all four of their previous Test encounters.
His knock was the highest score by a New Zealander at the ground, eclipsing Ross Taylor’s 89 in 2019.
But the slender path to victory he had opened was giving way shut when Jayasuriya trapped him lbw while trying to defend on the back foot.
The choice was upheld despite Ravindra’s review, and he departed having added just one run to his overnight total.
Jayasuriya, who took nine wickets across the match and finished the second innings five for 68, brought the match to an end when he bowled rookie pacer William O’Rourke for a duck.
“Disappointed we didn’t get enough lead in the first innings,” New Zealand skipper Tim Southee said.
“We had the game in hand, but we threw it away.”
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