Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2018/19, 2nd Test: Stat Highlights

New Zealand crushed the visiting side Sri Lanka by a colossal 423 runs in the second test at Christchurch to complete the 1-0 series win. This is their fourth successive series win and they have done it for the first time in their 88-year Test history.

The heroics of Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis, with a little bit help from rain, had saved Sri Lanka in the first Test in Wellington and both teams were up against each other in Christchurch for the decider.

Sri Lanka won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat first. The hosts started horribly and were reduced to 64 for 6 before a whirlwind 68 from Tim Southee lifted them to 178.

Sri Lanka, too, didn't have the best of the starts and were reduced to 21 for 3. Angelo Mathews and Roshen Silva tried to make up for that but a purple patch from Trent Boult wiped out the lower order and the tourists were all out for 104. Tom Latham's 176 and an unbeaten 162* by Henry Nicholls saw New Zealand declare at 585 for 4, leaving Sri Lanka with a mammoth target of 660 to chase.

With 660 runs to chase, losing both the openers before even reaching double-digit mark didn't help the Sri Lankan cause. Kusal Mendis and Chandimal made a century partnership but this only delayed what was inevitable. Neil Wagner's 4 for 48 and Boult's 3 for 77 ended the Sri Lankan innings at 236, quite far behind from the needed target.

Here are some of the interesting stats for this match.

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Match Records

431 - It was 431st Test match played by New Zealand (Won - 95, Lost - 171, Drawn - 165).

279 - It was 279th Test match played by Sri Lanka (Won - 88, Lost - 105, Drawn - 86).

1103 - Total runs scored in the match (Runs break-up: Bat - 1058, Extras - 45)

109 - No. of fours hit in the match. Tom Latham hit 18 of them, the highest amongst the batsmen.

6 - No. of sixes hit in the match. Tim Southee hit 3 of them, the highest amongst the batsmen.

2 - No. of centuries scored in the match, one each by Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls.

5 - No. of half-centuries scored in the match, one each by Tim Southee, Jeet Raval, Colin de Grandhomme, Dinesh Chandimal, and Kusal Mendis.

176 - No. of runs scored by Tom Latham in the 3rd innings of the match, the highest individual score in the match.

214 - No. of runs added by Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls for the 4th wicket in the 2nd innings of New Zealand, the highest partnership for any wicket in the match.

34 - No. of wickets fell down in the match.

6/30 - Bowling figures of Trent Boult in the 1st innings of Sri Lanka, the best by any bowler in the match.

423 - Margin of victory for New Zealand, their biggest in tests (in terms of runs)

4 - Fourth successive test series win for New Zealand, the first time in their entire test history

Individual Records

4 - Henry Nicholls scored his 4th Test century in the 23rd match

8 - Tom Latham scored his 8th Test century in the 41st match

2 - Suranga Lakmal took his 2nd five-wicket haul in his 54th match

7 - Trent Boult took his 7th five-wicket haul in his 59th Test match