Sri Lanka, under the leadership of Dhananjaya De Silva, secured a remarkable victory over New Zealand, winning by a margin of 63 runs in the 1st test on Monday.
Having elected to bat first, the home side put up a score of 305 runs on the board in their first inning, only to let the Kiwis get a small lead of 35 runs.
The Dhananjaya De Silva-led team managed to score 309 runs in their second inning, with the trio of Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews scoring half-centuries.
The Kiwis had to chase down 274 runs in order to go ahead in the two-match test series but they found themselves struggling at a score of 96-6.
Kane Williamson (30 runs in 46 deliveries) and Tom Latham (28 runs in 68 balls) got off to good starts but they weren’t able to convert their starts into big knocks.
Rachin Ravindra (92 runs in 168 balls) played a fighting knock and kept hold of one end but he didn’t receive any kind of support from the other players as wickets kept falling regularly at the other-end.
The Tim Southee-led team needed 68 runs with just two-wickets in-hand on Monday, however, much to the dismay of the New Zealand fans, Sri Lankan left arm orthodox spinner Prabath Jayasuriya accounted for both the wickets of William O Rourke (0 runs in 6 balls) and Rachin and allowed his side win by 63 runs.
WTC Points-Table: Sri Lanka overtake New Zealand to move to the third position
Following their win over New Zealand, the PCT of Sri Lanka has increased to 50 and they have 48 points next to their name in eight test-matches.
They have won on four occasions and have lost the same number of matches as well in the ongoing cycle of the WTC, and they are behind Australia and India in the overall standings currently.
They were sitting at the fourth position before the first India vs Bangladesh test-match where the Tigers lost against the Men in Blue, and now the island nation’s team have moved up by one spot to the third place in the overall-standings.
| Rank | Teams | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draw | Points | PCT |
| 1. | India | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 86 | 71.67 |
| 2. | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 90 | 62.50 |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 50.00 |
| 4. | New Zealand | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 42.85 |
| 5. | England | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 81 | 42.19 |
| 6. | Bangladesh | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 39.29 |
| 7. | South Africa | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 38.89 |
| 8. | Pakistan | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 19.05 |
| 9. | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 18.52 |
The Black Caps, on the other hand, have dropped to the fourth position with a PCT of 42.85. They have won three games and have suffered defeats in four encounters as well.
The second & final match of the two-match test series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be played from the 26th of September onwards at Galle International Cricket Ground.
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For more information, visit the official websites of ICC, Sri Lanka Cricket and New Zealand Cricket