Devon Conway is dismissed on day four of the first test. Photo / Sri Lanka Cricket
Devon Conway is dismissed on day four of the first test. Photo / Sri Lanka Cricket
After the Black Caps were swept 2-0 in their test series against Sri Lanka, the Herald grades the performance of the squad.
Tom Latham
Latham looked in complete command while sweeping his way to 70 to begin the tour, setting a platform the middle order would squander. The openerthen looked lost while scoring two runs in the second test, dismissed in the first over of each innings to dig a hole his side would never recover from.
For three quarters of the series, it seemed Conway’s slump would never end, only 30 runs collected in three innings ended by meek dismissals. Then, admittedly with the test already lost, he played his most fluent innings in 18 months, stroking 11 boundaries in a 62-ball knock of 61.
Mark: C-
Kane Williamson
Williamson made three starts, posted one 50 and fell well short of expectations, not alone among his team in falling four times to spin. After scoring three centuries in two tests against South Africa B, Williamson has failed to pass 55 in his last eight innings, his longest run without a hundred since a barren stretch during 2021-22.
Mark: C-
Rachin Ravindra
Ravindra almost threatened to match his ODI World Cup heroics with a match-winning performance on his return to the subcontinent in white. But with the finest knock of his short test career in sight, the 24-year-old’s attempts to bat New Zealand to victory ended on 92. Only 61 runs were reaped from his other three innings.
One of New Zealand’s best test players in the five years since making his debut, this might have been Mitchell’s worst series. The 33-year-old did make a half-century in his first turn with the bat, but followed that with 22 runs in his next three innings. A couple of costly drops added to an abject second test.
Mark: D
Tom Blundell
Two starts in the first test weren’t enough for a player short of runs and a team within reach of a rare away win. And a breezy 60 under no pressure in the second test was insufficient to account for a couple of straightforward missed stumping opportunities as Sri Lanka piled on 602.
Mark: D
Glenn Phillips celebrates a wicket with Tom Latham. Photo / Sri Lanka Cricket
Glenn Phillips
Phillips led the batters with a 43.7 average, scoring 131 runs at a strike rate of 80 to show proactive batting could be best in difficult conditions. Further solidifying his all-rounder bona fides, five wickets made his right-arm off-break the Black Caps’ third most effective weapon, called on more than any bowler but Ajaz Patel.
Mark: B+
Mitchell Santner
The all-rounder bowled better than a series haul of 1-197 from 66 overs would suggest. Clinging on to his place under pressure from Michael Bracewell, an assured 67 to end the series — after four runs in the first test — might have been enough before three more matches in similar conditions.
With two wickets and 49 overs across three innings, the skipper was ineffective and, even worse, largely irrelevant. If the Black Caps continue with two seamers on turning tracks in India, his spot will come under serious threat from Matt Henry. On the plus side, Southee did slog his way past Brian Lara with 89 career sixes.
Mark: F
Ajaz Patel
The overseas specialist did his best to give the tourists a shot in the first test, taking 6-90 in the second innings when Sri Lanka had seemed set to bat their opponents out of the match. The second test was somewhat less successful, recording 0-135 with little assistance from the pitch or his wicketkeeper.
Mark: C+
Will O’Rourke
O’Rourke returned figures of 0-81 in the second test — with several chances spurned from his bowling — but still led the Black Caps in average (23.1) and strike rate (39.6). By starting the tour with 5-55, the 23-year-old confirmed his pace and bounce could be as lethal on the subcontinent as at home.
