Galle. New Zealand, which went on a tour of Sri Lanka, has to face defeat in the first test. Despite taking a lead of 35 runs based on the first innings, the Kiwi team could not win this match. In the fourth innings of the match, except for Rachin Ravindra (92), none of its batsmen could do anything special. He had brought New Zealand to the brink of victory but could not maintain his momentum for long on the last day and New Zealand had to face defeat by 63 runs. Prabhat Jayasuriya bowled brilliantly for Sri Lanka and took a total of 9 wickets (4/136 & 5/68) in both innings. He was declared the Player of the Match.

Sri Lanka had set a target of 275 runs for the visiting team to win. In the second innings, Karunaratne (83), Dinesh Chandimal (61), and Angelo Mathews (50) scored half-centuries for Sri Lanka, while Dhananjay de Silva (40) and Kusal Mendis (23) scored excellent innings to score 309 runs in their second innings.

Tom Latham (70 & 28), Kane Williamson (55 & 30), and Daryl Mitchell (57 & 8) who scored fifties in the first innings from the Kiwi team could not convert their good start in the second innings into a big score. Glenn Phillips (49* & 4), who remained unbeaten in the first innings, also could not come in handy for the team when needed. However, young all-rounder Rachin Ravindra (39 & 92), who is handling an important responsibility at number 4 for the team, raised the hopes of victory for the team by holding one end in the second innings.

He returned unbeaten on 91 runs after the end of the fourth day's play, while his partner Ejaz Patel (0) was expected to support Rachin on the fifth and final day. But Rachin could add only 1 run to his score on the last day of the match and was dismissed LBW by Jayasuriya.

Sri Lanka did not have to work very hard to win this match on the last day and it won the match by taking the last two wickets in the fourth over of the day. Jayasuriya took the last two wickets and achieved a 5-wicket haul.

The second and last Test of the series will be played in Galle on September 26. After this series, the Kiwi team has to tour India, where it has to play a 3-match Test series.