New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said his team tried everything in the book to find a breakthrough but Sri Lanka‘s Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews gave nothing away to earn a draw in the first Test in Wellington.
Mendis hit an 141 while was Mathews 120 not out at stumps following a 274-run stand that, along with rain on the fifth and final day on Wednesday, handed Sri Lanka a well-earned draw.
Williamson said the slow nature of the surface negated their plans as well.
“Maybe everything,” Williamson said when asked if he could have done anything different.
“We sat down and had a number of conversations with other senior players and at breaks and said ‘what’s something else we can try?’ and we tried pretty much all of it.”
New Zealand tried to bowl short from round the wicket and played around with their slip positions but to no avail.
“There were a couple of wide balls that lobbed maybe 10m toward point but only 5m in distance. I think that was the best we got,” Williamson said.
“Without the bounce and defensive strokes nothing was carrying through to the keeper. We tried a number of short deliveries which might have brought about something foreign in terms of strokeplay but it was very difficult. We shouldn’t ignore the fact that the two Sri Lankan batters played beautifully. I don’t think I’ve been part of a game where two guys have batted a whole day together and not given an opportunity.”
