Winning a Test match is a massive achievement. Test victories are remembered for a long time and if it is the first-ever victory on foreign soil then it is engraved in the memory forever. Sri Lankan fans experienced this joy in 1995 when Sri Lanka won their first overseas Test by defeating New Zealand in Napier.
First Innings
New Zealand won the toss and made a conventional decision to bowl first in home conditions. The first day of the Test proved to be a disaster for Sri Lanka. The Kiwis cleaned up the Sri Lankan batting order and restricted them to 183 runs in the first innings. It was the captain Arjuna Ranatunga who showed some resilience by scoring a half-century to push the score closer to the 200-run mark. A collective performance from the New Zealand bowling attack put them ahead on the first day.
The spirited Sri Lankan bowling attack neutralized the advantage that they conceded in their batting stint. Chaminda Vaas and Pramodya Wickramasinghe joined forces to destroy New Zealand’s resolve. The fast-bowling duo dismissed the Kiwi top order in no time.
Captain Stephen Fleming tried to rescue his team from the crisis but his stay was cut short by Chaminda Vaas. The left-arm pacer went on to take five wickets and helped his team restrict the opposition to 109 runs. Sri Lanka took an unexpected lead at the end of the first innings to turn the tide in their favour.
Second Innings
The story in the second innings seemed to be a repeat of the first innings for Sri Lanka when they lost three wickets for just 22 runs. However, this time the experienced Aravinda de Silva stitched a partnership with Hashan Tillakaratne to stabilize the ship. Both the batters scored half-centuries.
A few batters in the lower orders also played a crucial part including Chamara Dunusinghe who scored 91 runs to guide Sri Lanka to a commendable score of 352. The visitors posted a massive target of 427 runs for New Zealand.
New Zealand seemed to have completely lost the momentum when Sri Lanka’s lead breached the 400-run mark. This was reflected in their batting which crumbled under pressure. At one point New Zealand looked comfortable with 108 runs in the account at the loss of just one wicket. However, wickets in quick succession completely changed the complexion of the game. After this, it was all about Sri Lanka dominating the game till the end. The visitors bowled New Zealand out for 185 runs, winning the match by 241 runs to script history. Chaminda Vaas, who became the first Sri Lankan to take 10 wickets in a Test, was awarded the player of the match for his historic performance. Sri Lankan cricket never looked back from there.