Earlier in the day, Kane Williamson scored his sixth double-hundred, and Henry Nicholls scored his first, putting on a mammoth 363-run stand which left Sri Lanka at the bottom of a mountain of runs. On the second day of the Wellington Test, the hosts scored 425 runs in 75 overs at a rate of 5.67 runs per over following a shortened opening day.
Kasun Rajitha and Asith Fernando, Sri Lanka’s top fast bowlers, bowled too short and then overcompensated with half-volleys that Williamson and Nicholls deflected in style. When Lahiru Kumara entered the attack, the plan changed. However, Sri Lanka’s short-ball strategy did not work out well either. Williamson pulled out Kumara for back-to-back sixes, although the first had come slightly fortuitously off a top edge. The second shot was fired outside the stadium. Williamson completed 8000 Test runs and achieved his century with his 10th four.
After chasing leather for two days, Sri Lanka slipped further behind in the game. The Lankans lost Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis in 17 overs before the stumps. Matt Henry bowled a probing spell that caused Oshada Fernando to feel for a delivery outside the off stump and nick off the wicket-keeper. Kusal Mendis was then dismissed for a duck by Doug Bracewell with a loose ball that Mendis cut fiercely only to have Devon Conway leap for the catch at backward point. The Black Caps reduced Sri Lanka to 26/2 on day two, leaving the tourists with very slim chances of levelling the series. Undoubtedly, the day’s story was the twin double tons, the fifth-highest partnership in New Zealand’s Test history
