HAMILTON, New Zealand (AP) Captain Angelo Mathews and Milinda Sirwardana shared an unbroken 77-run partnership Friday to steady Sri Lanka after the loss of two quick wickets after lunch on the first day of the second cricket test against New Zealand.
Mathews and Sirwardana's fifth-wicket stand guided Sri Lanka to 198-4 at tea as it batted after losing an important toss. Mathews was 44 and Siriwardana, promoted up the order, was 26 not out at the break.
Sri Lanka went to lunch at 108-2 after a positive first session in which it defied New Zealand's decision to bowl first on a green pitch.
Dinesh Chandimal and Udara Jayasundera combined to give Sri Lanka the upper hand at the first interval, but both were out quickly after the resumption. Jayasundera was run out for 26 and Chandimal gave wicketkeeper B.J. Watling his third catch of the innings, for 47.
Mathews was left to rebuild the innings with Siriwardana and the pair did so without impeding a positive scoring rate or more than four runs per over, forming a partnership which survived the 90 minutes until tea.
The lush green pitch at Seddon Park produced less venom than the tourists had feared when they first saw it on Wednesday and when coach Jerome Jayaratne suggested it had been ''doctored'' to favor the home team's bowlers.
Apart from Tim Southee, who took two wickets before lunch and had 2-51 at tea, the New Zealanders largely squandered the new ball and wasted the advantage of the toss.
Southee dismissed opener's Dimuth Karunaratne (12) and Kusal Mendis, for a bright 31, to leave Sri Lanka 44-2.
Chandimal and Jayasundera carried Sri Lanka comfortably to lunch and it needed a run out, from a misunderstanding between the batsmen, to produce the third wicket of the innings. Jayasundera was attempting a third run when he was sent back by Chandimal and was beaten at the striker's end by Mitchell Santner's throw to Watling.
Chandimal fell six runs later, driving lavishly at a delivery from Doug Bracwell which took a faint outside edge and carried to Watling for his third catch of the day, his 12th of the series.
Mathews and Siriwardana looked comfortable for the remainder of the session. Southee has had the upper hand in recent battles with Mathews and was brought on to test him again but the Sri Lanka captain was equal to the challenge.
Bracewell was relatively costly and fourth seamer Neil Wagner peristed with the short-pitched approach which brought him success in the first test in Dunedin but which was ill-suited to the conditions Friday.
New Zealand leads the two-test series after winning the first test by 122 runs.
