Karunaratne, Thirimanne put Sri Lanka on dominate position on day four against New Zealand

Sri Lankan team is only 135 runs away from registering a win against New Zealand in the first Test match as it scored 133 runs on the fourth day, chasing a target of 268 runs.

New Zealand batsmen BJ Waling and William Somerville resumed their team's second inning from 195/7 on day four. Both stitched a 46-run partnership before Lahiru Kumara got hold of Watling (77).

Trent Boult then joined Somerville on the field but Kumara struck again and ended Boult's 26-run inning. Ajaz Patel was the next batsman.

Both Somerville and Patel played steadily and took the lead past 250-run mark. Dhananjaya de Silva then dismissed Patel to end his 14-run inning. And with Patel's dismissal, all the Kiwi batsmen were sent back to the pavilion and a target of 268 runs was set for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne opened their side's second inning and got off to a brilliant start. Both played cautiously and avoided risky shot yet kept the scoreboard moving.

Both scored their respective half-century and stitched a partnership of 133 runs. Interestingly, this is Sri Lanka's highest ever partnership in the fourth innings.

New Zealand bowlers failed to take any wicket before the day was called off due to bad light. Karunaratne (71*) and Thirimanne (57*) will resume Sri Lanka's second inning from 133/0 on day five.