Southee picks five as Sri Lanka dig deep

Tim Southee’s prophecy before the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka came true on the opening day of the match as he took his eighth fivewicket haul at the Basin Reserve yesterday.

Sri Lanka reached stumps at 275 for nine, after a stubborn fightback from opener Dimuth Karunaratne, who made 79, and former captain Angelo Mathews (83) rescued the touring side from early trouble.

The duo combined for a fourth-wicket stand of 133 after seamer Southee had reduced the visitors to nine for three inside the first four overs. Niroshan Dickwella remained unbeaten on 73 to further thwart New Zealand’s attack in the final session.

The 30-year-old Southee had spoken on Thursday of liking the look of a green pitch in Wellington after low, slow and spin friendly pitches in the UAE in his team’s 2-1 series victory against Pakistan.