Kiwis slip after big Taylor-Williamson stand

COLOMBO (AFP) –

Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (R) celebrates with wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene (C) after he dismissed New Zealand’s Kane Williamson during the second day of the second and final Test. Herath removed skipper Ross Taylor for 142 and Williamson for 135 in his three overs as the tourists slipped from 276-2 to 298-5 in their first innings at lunch.

Rangana Herath grabbed two big wickets to lead Sri Lanka’s fightback on the second day of the second and final Test against New Zealand at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Monday.

The left-arm spinner removed skipper Ross Taylor for 142 and Kane Williamson for 135 in his three overs as the tourists slipped from 276-2 to 298-5 in their first innings at lunch.

Taylor and Williamson added 262 for the third wicket to put their team in a strong position before they fell in the space of 14 runs, trapped leg-before while attempting to sweep.

Part-time off-spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan bowled wicket-keeper Kruger van Wyk for a duck as New Zealand lost three wickets in the morning session after adding 75 to their overnight total of 223-2.

Taylor, 119 overnight, cracked 11 fours in his 306-ball knock while Williamson’s 305-ball innings included 12 boundaries.

Sri Lanka, who took their second wicket in the fourth over on Sunday, continued to struggle until Herath and Dilshan struck in the second hour of the morning.

Williamson, 95 overnight, reached his third Test century in 18 matches with an edged four to third man off paceman Shaminda Eranga.

He also completed 1,000 Test runs a few overs later, fluently driving seamer Nuwan Kulasekara through the covers for a boundary.

Herath, who took 11 wickets in his team’s crushing 10-wicket victory in the opening Test in Galle, has so far taken two wickets for 57 off 32 overs.