New Zealand’s lower middle order put up a fight, but still have a mountain to climb if they are to avoid an innings defeat
Nishan Peiris struck early on the fourth morning  •  AP
Lunch New Zealand 88 and 335 for 8 (Phillips 78, Blundell 60, Peiris 5-155) trail Sri Lanka 602 for 5 dec by 179 runs
New Zealand battled again with the bat in the first session of day four, with Glenn Phillips and Tom Blundell completing half centuries, before Mitchell Santner struck 48 not out. All up, they made 136 runs for the loss of three wickets in the session.
That their lower middle order could produce these kinds of runs in the second innings only brings their failure in the first innings – when they fell for 88 – into sharp relief however, rather than substantially changing their position in this match.
They are still 179 runs behind Sri Lanka, with only two wickets in hand. Barring a miraculous innings, or three, Sri Lanka are still headed for an innings win.
The hosts’ best bowler of the session was debutant Nishan Peiris, who gained substantial turn, even when not pitching into footmarks. He was rewarded with the wickets of both overnight batters. Tom Blundell was out on the third over of the morning, when he missed a reverse sweep (he was trying his second one in a row, having nailed the first for four), and been struck in front of the stumps. Later, Glenn Phillips attempted to launch Nishan over the straight boundary, but found Dimuth Karunaratne at long on.
That wicket completed Peiris five-wicket-haul on debut. He went to lunch with figures of 5 for 155 having bowled 31 overs. New Zealand’s batters have looked to attack him right through this second innings.
Phillips’ main strategy was to get on the back foot as often as possible, and play off the surface on a pitch that wasn’t yet taking vicious turn. This frequently worked – allowing him to pounce on even slightly short deliveries, while forcing bowlers to go fuller to him, presenting scoring opportunities down the ground. He completed his fifty off 66 balls, and would go on to be involved in a 64-run seventh-wicket stand with Santner, to follow the 95-run stand he’d shared with Blundell.
Santner, meanwhile, was not quite as proactive as Phillips, but found the offside productive. Occasionally, he would dance down the track and look to hit Peiris in particular down the ground. He collected two sixes and a four this way. At the break, he was in the company of Ajaz Patel, who’d made 16 off 24 balls, with 14 of those runs having come off boundaries.
The other wicket to fall was that of Tim Southee, who was bowled by a Prabath Jayasuriya ball that kept low.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf
