Boult, Southee peg Lanka back on Day 2

Colombo, August 23

New Zealand’s seam bowling pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult struck twice each to reduce Sri Lanka to 144/6 in their first innings on a rain-truncated second day in the second and final Test.

Weather continued to hamper play in the match New Zealand must win to level the series after the hosts won the opener in Galle by six wickets. Only 29.3 overs of play was possible after Sri Lanka resumed their innings on 85/2 but it was enough for the New Zealand seamers to make inroads into their opponents’ batting. Boult picked up two wickets in an over to strike early while Southee repeated the act later to put the touring side on top. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s 65 was the top score for the hosts, who had Dhananjaya de Silva unbeaten on 32 and Dilruwan Perera on 5 when rain forced the players off the ground. Sri Lanka would have been in more trouble if Boult had managed to hold on to a simple catch off his own bowling from de Silva, with the batsman on nine. — Reuters

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka: 144/6 (Dhananjaya de Silva 32*, Dilruwan Perera 5*; Boult 2/33, Southee 2/40) vs New Zealand

Nair’s 92 takes India Red to 163/2 

Bengaluru: Karun Nair struck an unbeaten 92 to help India Red score 163/2 on the rain-curtailed opening day of the Duleep Trophy match against India Blue. India Red suffered an early jolt as Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (0) was sent packing by Rajasthan left-arm paceman Aniket Choudhary, who trapped him leg-before with his third delivery. Skipper Priyank Panchal (15) and Nair added 40 runs in a little over 15 overs before the captain nicked one from Services medium-pacer Diwesh Pathania to wicketkeeper Snell Patel. After the fall of Panchal, Nair forged a 120-run partnership with HP left-hander Ankit Kalsi (48*) for the unbroken third wicket stand before rain and bad light ended play early. — PTI

Brief scores: India Red: 163/2 in 68 overs (Karun Nair 92*, Ankit Kalsi 48*; Diwesh Pathania 1/27, Aniket Choudhary 1/29) vs India Blue