The Black Caps have somehow achieved an astonishing victory in the final moments of a test — again.
A fortnight after a one-run victory over England that seemed to have supplied enough thrills for a summer, Kane Williamson conquered Sri Lanka on the last ball of a thrilling match at Hagley Oval.
The former skipper scored an expertly paced unbeaten century, carving a boundary through point to level the scores with two deliveries left.
Williamson then ducked under one bouncer and waved unsuccessfully at another but scampered through for a match-winning bye and barely beat a throw that, had it dislodged the bails a touch sooner, could have produced the third tied test in history.
His masterful innings of 121 guided his side to a target of 285 which represented the third-highest successful chase in this country’s test history.
Coming only a couple of weeks after Neil Wagner bowled the Black Caps to a scarcely believable one-run victory over England, this denouement was equally as dramatic.
Williamson’s steady accumulation was initially complemented well by Daryl Mitchell’s aggression, the pair putting together a pivotal fourth-wicket stand of 142 from 157. But when Mitchell and Tom Blundell were swiftly removed with half an hour to play, the hosts still needed 46 from 39 with five wickets in hand.
Michael Bracewell’s driven boundary reduced the target to 20 from the final three overs; his wicket a couple of balls later left Sri Lanka needing four more.Fifteen were needing from the last two and, after Tim Southee holed out, eight was the magic number as Matt Henry joined Williamson for the final over.
Henry’s desperation wasn’t enough to avoid a run out, leaving Wagner to charge to the crease in a manner belying the bulging disc in his back and the tear in his hamstring.
Celebrating his 37th birthday, Wagner’s unlikely turn of speed was then needed for the match-winning run, as Williamson further cemented his status as this country’s greatest batsman.
The 32-year-old’s 26th test ton was integral last month in helping his side sneak back into a second test that England had dominated. No 27 came up this afternoon in fading light with 32 runs still needed to beat Sri Lanka and, finding the gaps while charging hard between the wickets, that half-finished job was eventually, amazingly, completed.
It initially looked like rain would prove a spoiler in an evenly poised test, the teams unable to take the field until mid-afternoon for a 52-over sprint to the finish.
With New Zealand resuming on 28-1 and needing 257, at a run rate of a tick under five, the early losses of Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls could have dissuaded the home side from mounting a serious chase.
But playing on a pitch still tricky for batting, a compelling test that has seen control shift back and forth featured several swings still to come.
The first came when Williamson’s stay was almost ended on 33, fortunate to see wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella spill an edge low to his right.
Nicholls fell the following over but, joining Williamson when their side still needed 195 runs from 34 overs, Mitchell signalled his intentions with a first-ball six.
The required run rate edged soon above six but Williamson was beginning to target the boundary, bringing up his 50 as the target dropped below 150 with 24 over remaining.
Sri Lanka were shifting towards defensive mode, and spinner Prabath Jayasuriyaceded three wides in one over with a negative line outside leg.
Heading into the final hour, New Zealand now needed 101 more from 90 balls. From such a position, the sun still shining, it looked like there could be only one winner. The third and fourth sixes of Mitchell’s enhanced that feeling, making the equation an eminently achievable 78 from 72.
The pressure on the fielders soon brought a costly misfield, New Zealand needing only singles to seize victory. But there was then another couple of complications to come, as first Mitchell unluckily dragged onto his stumps.
Fifty-three runs were needed from 48 balls when Blundell joined the drama, and when Fernando yorked the wicketkeeper after only five balls, Sri Lanka had a sniff.The cheap wickets of Bracewell, Southee and Henry heightened that sense, but the despairing dive of Williamson would soon become the defining image of another breathtaking day of cricket.
Day four report:
New Zealand will need to complete their third-highest successful chase if they wish to win consecutive tests for the first time in a year.
On a mixed penultimate day of an equitable first test against Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval, the tourists set their hosts 285 for victory before increasing the degree of difficulty in that task.
The Black Caps will resume tomorrow on 28-1, trailing by 257, with Devon Conway having fallen in the fifth over. That brought together two players the home side might have handpicked when contemplating such a momentous challenge.
At one end, unbeaten on 11, is Tom Latham, averaging 60 in his nine previous innings this summer. At the other, unbeaten on 7, is Kane Williamson, coming off a century against England featuring the type of graft required tomorrow.
Only twice in New Zealand’s test history have they chased more to win a match — 324 against Pakistan in 1994 and 317 against Bangladesh in 2008.
No 1 on that list was also achieved in Christchurch, though at Lancaster Park. In the brief history of Hagley Oval, the highest successful chase was Australia’s 201-3 in 2016, while the highest fourth-innings score was the Black Caps’ 256-8 in a 2018 draw against England.
In short, it’s a sizeable ask. But this team need only cast their minds back a couple of weeks for memories of an unlikelier win, the one-run triumph over England their first test victory since topping South Africa last summer.
That win over the Proteas was the Black Caps’ second on the bounce, having previously beaten Bangladesh, following which they endured a seven-test run without success.
Considering that barren streak, ending this summer by defeating England and Sri Lanka would represent an impressive achievement, no matter what happened in next week’s second test.
That’s especially true when factoring in the absence today of Neil Wagner, the hero of the Basin Reserve unable to bowl — and ruled out of the second test — with a bulging disc in his back and torn hamstring.
That left Tim Southee one fewer bowling option when the tourists began day four on 83-3, leading by 65. But given the skipper and Matt Henry had combined to take nine wickets in the first innings, Southee was unlikely to have been too concerned.
That might have described his emotions, however, when Angelo Mathews started accumulating steady runs.
After Blair Tickner had removed nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya — making it four straight scalps for the Central Districts seamer — Mathews led a middle-order rearguard that helped Sri Lanka wrest back control following the hosts’ strong day three.
The 35-year-old kept the score ticking along steadily against an old ball on an increasingly benign surface -– exactly the conditions in which Wagner often thrives.
Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal put on 105 for the fifth wicket as Southee was forced to to ask Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell for 20 rather unthreatening overs.
With the test almost escaping New Zealand’s grasp, Southee was undoubtedly relieved to get his on a new cherry, immediately generating swing and making the breakthrough in his second over.
But even after sneaking one through Chandimal’s defences, Mathews shared another decent partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva (47no), before the senior man reached his 14th test ton.
Henry then nabbed the key wicket, nicking out Mathews for 115, and helped wrap up the tail as Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for 42 runs.
That late-innings efficiency was exactly what the Black Caps required. Conway chipping Kasun Rajitha straight back to the bowler was less desirable.
If Latham, Williamson and the rest of the batsmen fail to complete the chase tomorrow, the hobbled Wagner will be available to bat. More final-day drama awaits.
