Mendis went to Lunch at 93* on second morning. © AFP Glenn Phillips struck twice in the first session which gave New Zealand some cheer amongst an otherwise strong batting display from Sri Lanka. Kamindu Mendis and Dananjaya de Silva extended Sri Lanka’s strong batting performance for the second day in a row. The duo put on an 74-run stand before the latter top edged a sweep at the stroke of Lunch. Phillips had struck in similar fashion, getting Angelo Mathews early in the day off a miscued sweep. Both batters missed out on personal milestones but had given Mendis good support to help extend Sri Lanka’s position. Mendis, in typically prolific fashion, stood seven short of what could be his fifth ton in seven Tests. The left-hander remained circumspect in the session alongside De Silva, who had quickly gotten off the blocks. A loft off Phillips for six signaled his intention early and reversed any pressure brought on by the early departure of Mathews. The sweep was also an ally in earning him boundaries along the way, even encouraging Mendis to bring out a reverse sweep at one point. For New Zealand, Phillips remained a constant presence right through the session, getting appreciable drift on occasions to beat the right-hander. Mendis survived an LBW review against the offspinner with the arm ball sliding down the legside. He remained the biggest threat for both the batters while both Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner were played with relatively lesser discomfort on a surface that didn’t possess any demons. Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 402/5 (Dinesh Chandimal 116, Kamindu Mendis 93* Angelo Matthews 88; Glenn Phillips 3-55) vs New Zealand
