KEY POINTS:
WELLINGTON - Sri Lanka inflicted both physical and psychological damage on New Zealand today, taking a stranglehold on the second cricket test after Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan caused plenty of discomfort at the Basin Reserve.
Sri Lanka batted themselves into a position of dominance at stumps, leading
by 363 with five wickets in hand with three days to play, after they capitalised on the carnage caused during an early morning burst by their two strike weapons.
Malinga's low-slung yorkers and Muralitharan's famed "doosra" saw New Zealand capitulate from their overnight 66 for four to a 130 all out within 40 overs.
New Zealand's latest batting disaster gifted Sri Lanka a 138-run first innings lead and placed their chances of protecting a 1-0 series lead in serious jeopardy.
Malinga claimed a career-best five for 68, just his second five-wicket haul in 21 tests, by continuing to cause the sort of confusion which saw Nathan Astle's off stump bent back by a full toss to end yesterday's play.
The right-armer with the unique bowling style would have been on a hat-trick had Sanath Jayasuriya caught the first ball off the day at gully but Malinga soon made up for missing Brendon McCullum by bamboozling Mathew Sinclair and Daniel Vettori.
Sinclair, who laboured 73 minutes for six, was skittled without adding to his overnight score while Vettori also showed minimal footwork as Malinga speared the third ball he faced on to leg stump.
Muralitharan then turned the screws as Jacob Oram, batting with a runner after straining a hamstring yesterday, and James Franklin were both out for one, leg before wicket after failing to pick the doosra.
The allrounders' demise left New Zealand at risk of not making three figures against Sri Lanka for the first time but McCullum, who topscored with 43, managed to push the score to 130 before he was last out, bowled after charging down the pitch in an effort to club Muralitharan out off the ground.
Muralitharan also eked out Shane Bond for eight when Bond was trapped adjacent to a ball that pitched in line and straightened to leave him with figures of four for 31 off 12.1 overs.
McCullum's nuggety innings came at a cost, however, as he joined Oram on the casualty list by heading to hospital for X-rays on a badly bruised left index finger.
Malinga inflicted that pain with a short ball and also had the wicketkeeper hobbling early in his knock after a legside yorker crashed into the instep of his right leg.
Those injuries saw Sinclair deputise behind the stumps in the Sri Lankan second innings and he produced a tidy display highlighted by the fortuitous dismissal of Mahela Jayawardene for a battling 31.
The Sri Lankan captain, who had scored just eight runs in three innings in this series, adopted an ultra cautious approach as the tourists built their advantage, absorbing 121 balls before he was harshly adjudged caught behind down the legside off Vettori.
Jayawardene's reluctant departure hardly took the gloss of a compelling performance from the Sri Lankans, who reached 225 for five by stumps.
Chamara Silva will resume on 79, his second consecutive half century after making a pair on debut last week, along side Prasanna Jayawardene, on 22, while Vettori, who has three for 101 off 31 overs, can expect another heavy workload into the breeze tomorrow.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka
First innings 268
New Zealand
First innings (overnight 66-4)
C Cumming b Maharoof 13
J How lbw b Malinga 26
M Sinclair b Malinga 6
S Fleming c P Jayawardene b Malinga 0
N Astle b Malinga 17
B McCullum b Muralitharan 43
D Vettori b Malinga 0
J Oram lbw b Muralitharan 1
J Franklin lbw b Muralitharan 1
S Bond lbw b Muralitharan 8
C Martin not out 0
Extras (7b, 6lb, 2nb) 15
Total (39.1 overs) 130
Fall: 30 (Cumming), 40 (How), 40 (Fleming), 66 (Astle), 75 (Sinclair), 85 (Vettori), 90 (Oram), 98 (Franklin), 116 (Bond), 130 (McCullum).
Bowling: C Vaas 4-0-8-0, L Malinga 18-4-68-5 (1nb), F Maharoof 5-2-10-1 (1nb), M Muralitharan 12.1-3-31-4.
Sri Lanka
Second innings
U Tharanga lbw b Martin 20
S Jayasuriya c Fleming b Vettori 31
K Sangakkara c Franklin b Bond 8
M Jayawardene c Sinclair b Vettori 31
C Kapugedera b Vettori 27
C Silva not out 79
P Jayawardene not out 22
Extras (4lb, 3nb) 7
Total (for 5 wkts, 71 overs) 225
Fall: 44 (Tharanga), 62 (Sangakkara), 62 (Jayasuriya), 100 (Kapugedera), 168 (M Jayawardene).
Bowling: S Bond 14-2-49-1 (2nb), C Martin 11-1-41-1 (1nb), D Vettori 31-5-101-3, J Franklin 15-6-30-0.
- NZPA
