Here's Shiva Jayaraman with a stat:
Five catches off a bowler for a fielder/keeper in a Test innings:
Bob Taylor-Ian Botham, Eng v Ind, 1980 - 5
Mark Boucher-Allan Donald, SA v Eng, 1998 - 5
Adam Gilchrist -Michael Kasprowicz, Aus v SL, 2004 - 5
Lahiru Thirimanne-Lasith Embuldeniya, SL v Eng, 2021 - 5
Dhananjaya de Silva-Prabath Jayasuriya, SL v NZ, 2024 - 5
11:45am Well, that was carnage. And that is probably the only way to put it. New Zealand were under pressure when the day began. But what transpired in the first hour was perhaps beyond their wildest nightmare. Batters fell like a pack of cards and for most of the session, it seemed a procession. The fact that O'Rourke and Santner (the last-wicket stand) kept SL at bay more than most, encapsulates the morning they had.
Now, onto Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya did what he almost always does at Galle: pick up a five-wicket haul and break the back of the opposition. His drift, dip and guile was just too much to dissect for the Kiwis and he found an able ally in debutant Peiris, who kept things tight and kept chipping away, barely offering the visitors any freebies. Sri Lanka, without a shadow of a doubt, are the team in control of this game and will now want to pile further misery on the Black Caps. We will be back in a bit with the second innings.
MJ Santner b Peiris 29 (50m 51b 4x4 1x6) SR: 56.86
Akindu: "DDS ought to have a couple overs. He's the man that's gonna break the partnership" -- SL could do with a slight shuffle-up. Peiris to continue for now. This is the highest partnership of the innings, by the way
END OF OVER:39 | 2 Runs | NZ: 86/9
- Will O’Rourke2 (15b)
- Mitchell Santner27 (46b)
- Prabath Jayasuriya18-6-42-6
- Nishan Peiris17-3-31-2
Over the wicket to Santner
Around the wicket now
Stays over the wicket
END OF OVER:38 | 4 Runs | NZ: 84/9
- Mitchell Santner26 (45b)
- Will O’Rourke1 (10b)
- Nishan Peiris17-3-31-2
- Prabath Jayasuriya17-6-40-6