They slipped to 118 ranking points, equal with South Africa, who beat Sri Lanka in Johannesburg on Saturday to go 3-0 up.

South Africa will overtake Australia if they win the remaining two matches in that series. When Kane Williamson won the toss he had no hesitation in batting first on the Hamilton wicket, correctly forecasting it would slow up as the day wore on and Boult would come into his own.

But in the prime early batting conditions, New Zealand appeared to have under-performed with their 281 for nine, despite Taylor’s 107 off 101 balls and his century partnership with Dean Brownlie who made 63.

With rankings and the series at stake after New Zealand won the first ODI by six wickets and the second was washed out, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh made a flying start to Australia’s reply, averaging more than six an over.

They were particularly harsh on Tim Southee, whose opening four-over spell cost 30 runs, while new-ball partner and man-of-the-match Boult then had one for 10.

Williamson and Ross Taylor, determined not to run out of time, batted at more than 6.0 an over in their 163-run third wicket partnership with New Zealand chasing down a 217-run target.

The New Zealand skipper finished unbeaten on 104 with Taylor out for 60 and Henry Nicholls not out four.

Bangladesh were in command for nearly four days, until their second innings lasted less than 58 overs to end at 160-9 and captain Mushfiqur Rahim in hospital after being felled by a Tim Southee bouncer.

It was a disappointing sequel to their imposing first innings of 595-8 declared, presenting them with the unwanted record of the highest ever score in the first innings to lose a Test.

The previous mark was set more than 120 years ago, when Australia scored 586 against England at the Sydney cricket ground in 1894.

New Zealand made a shaky start to their run chase with first innings centurion Tom Latham out for 16 and fellow opener Jeet Raval for 13, both removed by off-spinner Mehedi Hasan in the space of eight balls.

But Williamson and Taylor were unruffled on a warm Wellington afternoon that was a far cry from the blustery first day when Bangladesh batted positively on a green wicket.

Williamson brought up his century — levelling the scores with a sweep off Mehedi to the boundary — before ending the game with a single off the next ball.

Bangladesh resumed the final day at 66-3 and were in early trouble when Shakib Al Hasan, whose 217 in the first innings is a record high score for a Bangladesh batsman, lasted only five balls before going for a duck.

Mominul Haque, who has two centuries to his name in five previous innings against New Zealand, was removed this time for 23.

At 96-5, Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur added 18 runs in 16 overs in the face of a torrid attack from the New Zealand pace trio of Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner.

Mushfiqur, who had been unable to field for Bangladesh during New Zealand’s first innings 539, was forced to duck repeatedly under a barrage of bouncers until a ball hit the back of his helmet.

He lay prone on the wicket, attended by medical staff from both teams until an ambulance drove on to the field and took him to hospital. He was later given the all-clear.

Opener Imrul Kayes, who was stretchered off and taken to hospital late on the fourth day with a hip injury, hobbled to the crease at the fall of the seventh wicket.

Unable to run, he relied on boundaries to be 36 not out when the innings ended.

Boult finished with three for 53 while Wagner and spinner Mitchell Santner took two wickets each.

The second Test starts in Christchurch Friday.

The Proteas can nudge up one place to sixth in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings if they win, while the Black Caps will remain fifth irrespective of the result.

But the reputation of Test cricket is at much at stake as rankings points after a farcical first Test in Durban where less than 100 overs of cricket were played before a wet, soft outfield prevented any play on the last three days. There was even less cricket in a Test match between the West Indies and India in Port of Spain, also because of outfield conditions.

It is the first time Test cricket has been played in South Africa in August, almost two months before the usual start of the season.

Preparing grounds for winter conditions has been a challenge – which Durban failed to meet after re-seeding the outfield only two months before the match. Following reports from the match referees, the outfields in Durban and Port of Spain were condemned as “poor” by the ICC.

Centurion groundsman Rudolph du Preez had the advantage of planting winter grass much earlier than Durban, with work starting in April, almost immediately after the 2015-16 season.

He said it was necessary to plant winter grass because fielders struggled on dry, dormant summer grass when the same two countries met in a one-day international in August last year.

With virtually no rain falling on the South African Highveld during winter – and no rain predicted during the Test – Du Preez is confident that conditions will be suitable for Test cricket. He said more time had been necessary to prepare the pitch because cool conditions meant it took longer to dry out after watering.

Du Preez said he did not expect uneven bounce to be as much of a factor as it has been in the later stages of matches in recent seasons.

“It might not deteriorate as we are used to. It might be a little bit slower, it might be holding back a bit more,” he said. Centurion has been a fortress for South Africa in Test cricket, with the home side having won 16 of the 21 Tests at the ground. Their only two losses were against England in a contrived result in 1999-2000, engineered by the late Hansie Cronje before he was banned from cricket because of his association with bookmakers, and against Australia in 2013-14.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Dean Elgar, Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Dane Piedt

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wkt), Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

Tuesday’s game in Mount Maunganui will be the third McCullum has missed since he was injured on December 28 while fielding against Sri Lanka in the second game of the five-match series.

Coach Mike Hesson initially said McCullum, who will retire from international cricket after next month’s Tests against Australia, had a chance of completing the Sri Lanka series. But Hesson said on Monday that the skipper will not be considered until the first ODI against Pakistan in Wellington on January 25.

“He’s really struggling,” Hesson said. “He hasn’t progressed as well as we’d thought. He will get a further assessment.”

McCullum had already announced he would sit out the Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan as he will not be going to the World Cup in March. Fast bowler Tim Southee, who suffered a foot injury in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Nelson last Thursday, will also miss Tuesday’s game.

However, his regular new-ball partner Trent Boult returns to the side after being rested for the first four games.

With New Zealand 2-1 up, Sri Lanka need to win on Tuesday to draw the series after earlier being beaten 2-0 in the Tests.

The fourth ODI was abandoned Saturday because of heavy rain.

Sri Lanka have called up reinforcements for the five ODIs after their 2-0 hammering in the Tests.

Lahiru Thirimanne, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Kulasekara and, depending on fitness, Lasith Malinga are among a number of players injected into the ODI squad.

But as much as they want to get on the winning side of the ledger McCullum is equally adamant he wants to sign off his illustrious 13-year-career on a winning note.

The opening ODI is on Boxing Day in Christchurch, McCullum’s hometown and where he will play his last international in the second Test against Australia in two months.

“We’ve got a bumper calendar really with Sri Lanka here at the moment, Pakistan to come and finishing off with the Aussies,” he said.

“From a playing point of view and a captain’s point of view, I’m fully committed to playing at the absolute top of my game and make as many contributions as I can.”

Coach Mike Hesson said he does not expect McCullum’s retirement announcement to have an adverse effect on the team.

“We’re expecting the guys to carry on in a similar style of play in terms of how we want to go about things,” Hesson said.

“We will still be quite aggressive in the way we go about the game and we’ll certainly be asking that of our players.”

Nearly half the team beaten by Australia in the World Cup final in March will be missing from the Sri Lanka series.

Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson are injured, Daniel Vettori has retired, Trent Boult is being spelled for the ODI series and Tim Southee is being rested for the first two games.

However, Adam Milne, New Zealand’s quickest bowler and who missed the World Cup final because of a heel injury, returns to the side.

He joins Mitchell McClenaghan, Matt Henry and Doug Bracewell as the pace-bowling options, with the quartet vying for places in the squad to be named for the World Twenty20 in India in March.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews was disappointed the way his side folded in the Tests but expected a better showing in the limited overs series.

“Dilshan, Kulasekara and Thirimanne are joining the one-day team and we’ve got a fair bit of experience so we are looking to give them a good run for their money,” he said.

“I have a lot of confidence in the one dayers.”

One bright spot for Sri Lanka in the failed Test campaign was the emergence of 23-year-old Dushmantha Chameera as a talented quick bowler.

“He’s played just a few games and he’s been absolutely brilliant and he was able to shake the New Zealanders. He’s a great, bright prospect for us going forward,” Mathews said.

“He doesn’t have a lot of seam movement. It’s just that he can bowl fast.

– AFP

Three wickets in two overs after tea rocked Sri Lanka just as captain Angelo Mathews and Milinda Siriwardana were looking solid with a record fifth-wicket partnership.

When rain halted play 23 overs short of the day’s scheduled 90, Mathews was unbeaten on 63 with Dushmantha Chameera yet to score.

Siriwardana, in only his fourth Test, was out for 62 after joining Mathews for Sri Lanka’s record fifth-wicket partnership against New Zealand of 138, eclipsing the 133 set by Mahela Jayawardene and Hashan Tillakaratne in 2003.

On a day in which fortunes ebbed and flowed, the valuable Mathews-Siriwardana pairing began when Sri Lanka were heading for trouble at 121-4.

Siriwardana was caught at first slip by Ross Taylor off the bowling of Boult, who claimed his second wicket three balls later when Kithuruwan Vithanage was caught by a diving Brendon McCullum at mid-off without scoring.

Just before the rain came down, Rangana Herath was run out for four by a fine throw from Kane Williamson in the gully.

With three wickets after tea, New Zealand enjoyed their most productive session after winning the toss and making Sri Lanka bat on a green pitch expected to be a bowler’s paradise.

They could only manage two wickets in each of the first two sessions as Sri Lanka fought to atone for their 122-run loss in the first Test in Dunedin.

In part the tourists were helped by New Zealand’s inconsistency with line and length, but they also played an aggressive game.

“I don’t think we executed to our liking in the first couple of hours. Went past the bat a little bit but didn’t create enough pressure in first session,” quick Tim Southee said.

“They would probably be sitting pretty at lunchtime but the last couple of sessions we created pressure and last half hour swung back our way.”

Sri Lanka have so far produced six sixes, double their entire first Test total. Three of them have been belted by Mathews including one to bring up his 23rd Test 50 by driving Mitchell Santner over the rope.

Siriwardana, who also hit three sixes, was particularly tough on the bowlers after tea when he smacked a rapid 36 before being caught by Taylor who started the day dropping Kusal Mendis before Sri Lanka had any runs on the board.

Siriwardana, who scored his 62 off 81 deliveries, said Sri Lanka’s aggression was deliberate after conservative batting backfired in Dunedin.

“In the previous match we tried to stay at the crease and lost wickets. So we talked about attacking a bit more in this game. That worked when myself and Angelo Mathews were batting,” he said.

“We batted through very well in the first two sessions. We had a collapse in the last few overs.” Sri Lanka had a couple of shaky early overs but by lunch were 108-2 after Southee had removed Dimuth Karunaratne for 12 and the aggressive Mendis for 31 off 42 balls.

Both were caught behind by wicketkeeper BJ Watling who also featured in New Zealand’s second two-wicket burst soon after lunch.

Udara Jayasundera was run out for 26 when he was sent back by Dinesh Chandimal but was not quick enough to beat Santner’s throw to Watling who whipped off the bails.

Three overs later, Chandimal on 47 was caught behind off Doug Bracewell. Boult took two for 43 and Southee two for 51. AFP

New Zealand are at their best playing at home, which Sri Lanka learned the hard way 12 months ago when bowling spearheads Mike Hesson and Trent Boult took 22 wickets between them as the Black Caps completed a 2-0 series whitewash.

Mathews’ side return a year later, still in a rebuilding phase, to face a settled New Zealand line-up looking for a confidence boost after losing their recent away series defeat to Australia.

‘Pace and bounce’

The Brendon McCullum-led New Zealanders are brimming with confidence in home conditions where they have not lost a Test nor a series since going down 0-1 when South Africa visited in 2011-12.

They are also a team that played better than the 0-2 scoreline in Australia last month would indicate.

“We are back in conditions we are familiar with and grounds we are familiar with and hopefully we can show the high standards we have shown over the last couple of years,” said Southee Tuesday.

“It’s typical Dunedin weather. We find it cold so I’m sure the Sri Lankans will find it even worse.”

In Australia, only opener Martin Guptill and off-spinner Mark Craig failed to shine but Hesson is prepared to keep faith with the out-of-form pair.

“Mark and Martin didn’t perform to the level they would have liked over in Australia, but both have shown in the past what they’re capable of and we’re confident they’ll make valuable contributions in the upcoming series,” he said.

“We think it’s a strong squad, but equally we’ve got a group of players on the fringe of selection who are ready to be called upon if necessary.”

Guptill aside, New Zealand are strong at the top of the order led by the impressive Kane Williamson who has averaged 89.90 in the past 12 months.

Ross Taylor has averaged 52 in the same period including a 290 against Australia while McCullum, as he showed with his 195 in the first Test against Sri Lanka a year ago, can destroy any attack once he gets going.

With New Zealand’s two leading all-rounders, Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham, sidelined by injury, left-arm seamer Neil Wagner, who was not required in the Australia Tests, has had his chances of a start boosted by Hesson’s call for green tops.

“I think our pitches need to be green to keep pace in them with the clay we use,” Hesson said.

“If we go in with something that looks a bit dry then it tends to turn into a bit of a dead duck. We certainly like to keep the game moving with a wicket that’s got a bit of pace and bounce.”