Trent Boult's 6 wickets in 15 balls blow Sri Lanka away

The second Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Christchurch was finely poised when day two began. Bouncing from the defeat in the first game, Sri Lanka did well to bowl the hosts out for just 178 runs. In reply, the visitors were off to a poor start and were reeling at 51 for 4. However, an unbeaten 37-run stand between Angelo Mathews and Roshen Silva helped them close out the day on 88 for 4.

The duo then saw off the first 20 minutes of play on day two, raising Sri Lanka’s hopes of going past New Zealand’s modest first-innings total. However, what followed thereafter was total carnage as Trent Boult blew them away with a scarcely-believable 6-wicket haul.

The left-arm pacer took just 15 balls to take remaining six wickets as Sri Lanka were all out for just 104 after starting the day on 88. The Sri Lankan batsmen looked clueless as Boult made them dance to his tunes with some unbelievable swing bowling.

Boult got his first wicket in his third over when he had Roshen caught at second slip as the latter attempted a drive off a wide delivery. It ended the 43-run stand between Roshen and Mathews. In his next over, Boult’s swing was causing even more trouble for the Islanders. Niroshan Dickwella also went for an expensive drive and ended up edging the ball at third slip where Tim Southee dived across to complete a spectacular one-handed catch.

The remaining dismissals were all lbws. Dilruwan, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara had no answers to Boult’s deliveries as Sri Lanka’s batsmen fell like a pack of cards. The last four batters were dismissed all for a duck. In the end, Boult finished with his career-best figures of 6 for 30.

Here is a clip of Boult’s devastating spell:

World record! Trent Boult takes 6 Sri Lankan wickets in just 15 deliveries. 🔥🔥🔥#BoxingDayTest pic.twitter.com/HDNhjgg0OP pic.twitter.com/nnwMGOWn4X

— ＩＴＴＵＳ (@shruthi_ADK) December 27, 2018

New Zealand in driver’s seat

Meanwhile, the hosts have taken a firm grip on the game.  At stumps, New Zealand had piled on 231 for 2, stretching their lead to 305 with three days left to play. Jeet Raval and Tom Latham shared 121 runs for the first wicket before the latter departed after scoring 74. Latham and skipper Kane Williamson then added 68 runs for the second wicket. Lahiru Kumara ended the stand by dismissing Williamson for 25.

However, Latham and Ross Taylor did not let the visitors make further inroads in the game by sharing an unbeaten stand of 42 runs.

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