New Zealand vs Sri Lanka: Formidable Kiwis cap year of rapid progress with victory over Dinesh Chandimal and Co

New Zealand are on cloud nine and have entered uncharted territory. Sunday’s mammoth 423-run win over Sri Lanka  at Christchurch enabled them to clinch the two match series 1-0 to record their fourth successive Test series win. This is the first time in their 88-year Test history that they have won four series’ in a row. Ranked third in Test cricket, the New Zealanders are shaping into a formidable outfit. Earlier this month, they created history by beating Pakistan away from home after 49 years and now a hard fought series win over Sri Lanka has given them momentum. Having been denied a win in Wellington after a remarkable Sri Lankan fightback as well as some help from rain, the hosts were ruthless at Christchurch. [caption id=“attachment_5815441” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] New Zealand were ruthless in the second half of the Christchurch Test to pull off a record 423-run victory. AP[/caption] The toss was crucial in the second Test with conditions helping the seamers and Sri Lanka, having opted to bowl first, exploited the conditions to dismiss the Kiwis for 178. New Zealand’s seam attack kept them in the game; Trent Boult was on the money and unplayable as he took six wickets in a 15-ball burst to bowl Sri Lanka out for 104. From thereon it was all New Zealand. The target of 660 was out of Sri Lanka’s equation, but still they had the batting to force a draw as the wicket had eased out. Neil Wagner kept hitting the deck hard despite little assistance on the last two days and was rewarded with four wickets in the second innings. It was a tough choice to leave Matt Henry out for the Boxing Day Test but Wagner’s effort proved that the hosts were right in retaining him for the second Test after a poor game in Wellington. Henry would find a place in most Test teams these days. Quick and sharp, he was instrumental in English county Kent gaining promotion to Division One this season. Henry finished the season with 74 wickets at 14.67 as Kent were promoted to Division One for the first time in eight seasons. With such backup in their bowling, New Zealand could give any team a run for the money. The only weak link in their attack is the lack of spin options. Well, that didn’t bother them much during their win over Pakistan in UAE in conditions tailor-made for spin bowlers. New Zealand have mastered the art of playing within themselves. They have never been a side underlined as favourites in the last three decades, but they are effective, having made most of what they possess. There are no such issues with their batting though. For the last 10 years, Ross Taylor and Kane Willamson have been the mainstay of their batting. After regular opportunities, Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham, both in their mid-20s, have taken responsibility to produce match-winning knocks. Latham produced a masterclass in Wellington posting an unbeaten 264, the sixth-highest individual score by a New Zealander in Test cricket. Then he produced a match-winning 176 in Christchurch to finish the series exactly on 450 runs, second most by a New Zealander after Brendon McCullum’s 535 against India in 2014 in a two-match series. Nicholls produced an unbeaten 162 in the second innings in Christchurch as he added 214 runs for the fourth wicket with Latham. He has been remarkable this year, having posted 658 runs in 12 innings with three hundreds and three fifties. His average of 73.11 is the best Test average in 2018. The South African-born BJ Watling has been sharp behind the stumps and has come up with some useful contributions with the bat. Zimbabwean-born Colin de Grandhomme is the back up seamer and a useful batsman, averaging 32 with the bat at 29 with the ball. He has made rapid progress as New Zealand have borrowed a leaf out of England’s books and started benefiting from the arrival of some very good African talent. The ICC at present is finalising their awards list for 2018. While Indian skipper Virat Kohli has featured heavily for several individual awards including Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year, the Test and ODI teams of the year will also be announced soon. Don’t be surprised if you see quite a few New Zealanders making it to the team. Latham, Nicholls, Taylor, Williamson, Boult and Southee all have had an outstanding 2018 and their best is yet to come. As for the Sri Lankans, most expected them to lose both Tests as they were coming on the back of a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of England at home. Despite the series loss, they had exhibited fight in both games. A remarkable effort saw them drawing the first Test and in Christchurch they were able to take the game the full distance. There’s serious questions about their seam bowling options though. Apart from Suranga Lakmal, who excelled when conditions suited him, the rest of the seamers were well below par.