Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took five wickets in the second innings and nine wickets in the match as Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 63 runs in the first cricket Test here on Monday.
Chasing Sri Lanka's target of 275 runs, New Zealand needed 68 runs to win on the last day with only two wickets remaining. However, the visiting team lost its remaining two wickets after adding four runs in 3.4 overs and its innings was reduced to 211 runs.
Yesterday's unbeaten batsman Rachin Ravindra (92) added just one more run to his score before he was trapped lbw by Jayasuriya. Ravindra hit nine fours and a six in his 168-ball innings.
Jayasuriya gave Sri Lanka victory by bowling William O'Rourke in the next over without scoring any runs and taking five or more wickets in an innings for the eighth time in Test cricket.
Ravindra missed out on a century but his 92 runs is the best score for New Zealand at Galle. He surpassed Ross Taylor who had scored 86 runs.
New Zealand have lost all five of their Tests in Galle, with none of their batsmen able to score a century during this period.
With this win, Sri Lanka has reached the third position in the World Test Championship table. It is behind India and Australia. New Zealand, which started the series in third place, has slipped to fourth place.
Earlier, in reply to Sri Lanka's 305 runs in the first innings, New Zealand scored 340 runs in the first innings. Sri Lanka scored 309 runs in the second innings and gave the visiting team a target of 275 runs. The second and final Test of the two-match series will be played in Galle from Thursday.
Sri Lanka will be aiming to win their first Test series against New Zealand since 2009. Since then, there have been six series between the two teams, of which New Zealand has won four and two ended in a draw.
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