Galle: Sri Lanka completed a comfortable victory over New Zealand by 202 runs in the first test of the series to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The Kiwis, set an improbable target of 413 runs, collapsed to 210 all-out in their second innings before tea on the fifth and final day at the Galle International Stadium.

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed 3-88 to take his world record tally to 777 wickets, while left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara and spinner Ajantha Mendis picked up two scalps each.

Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori battled bravely for two-and-a-half hours to make 67, his 20th Test fifty, leading a brief resistance by the lower order after the Kiwis were reduced to 86-5.

The Black caps, who had 13 of their 15 players affected by a stomach bug and viral fever, were hoping the weather might do them a favour as it had not been too good throughout the test match — only for clear skies to break over the coastal town for the first time since the Test began.

Jesse Ryder, one of the player’s worst affected by the virus, showed a lot of courage and defended his wicket for almost an hour to add 48 for the sixth wicket with his captain before he was caught behind off Muralitharan for 22 soon after lunch.

The second and final Test will be played at the Sinhalese sports club in Colombo from Wednesday. New Zealand will also play two Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka and a limited-overs tri-series with India as the third team.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 452 (Samaraweera 159, M Jayawardene 114, Martin 4-77) and 259 for 5 dec. (Dilshan 123) beat New Zealand 299 (McIntosh 69, Murali 4-73, Thushara 4-81) and 210 (Vettori 67, Murali 3-88) by 202 runs

Man of the Match: Tillekaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)

Tagged with: Daniel Vettori, Galle, Jesse Ryder, Muttiah Muralitharan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Thilan Thushara, Tillekaratne Dilshan

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