New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 2004-05

At Wellington, April 11, 12, 13, 14, 2005. New Zealand won by an innings and 38 runs. Toss: New Zealand. Test debut: S. Kalavitigoda.

Victory gave Fleming a reason to be cheerful after two comprehensive thumpings by the Australians. The win was enough for New Zealand to claim a series for the first time - a simple 2-0 success in Bangladesh aside - since defeating India at the end of 2002, a sequence that had seen them triumph just once in 18 front-line Tests. Now, though, they enjoyed an emphatic innings victory on the back of some sharp bowling from Martin and a dogged double-hundred from Vincent.

Fleming knew he had cause to smile after winning the toss and inserting Sri Lanka on a green-tinged pitch clearly capable of more mischief than the somnolent Napier strip. Martin, often a gentle lamb lately, roared downwind like an angry lion. He had Atapattu held at point from the third ball of the match and by the end of his 11-over opening spell he had added four more top-order wickets. Making intelligent use of both swing and seam, backed by smart catching, he had five for 29 by lunch.

Shortly afterwards, Martin made it six out of six when the debutant Shantha Kalavitigoda edged to third slip, and thoughts turned to whether he could take all ten. That prospect disappeared when Franklin removed Vaas to leave Sri Lanka 86 for seven. Then Samaraweera stubbornly held his ground, and with the fielding losing its razor-sharp edge he set the recovery in train, sharing an eighth-wicket stand of 89 with Chandana before being last out for a precious 73.

After closing the Sri Lankan innings at 211, New Zealand progressed to 52 for none by stumps. They had worked their way to 253 for four when a cold, clammy fog rolled in late on the second afternoon, and the New Zealanders must have worried that the Wellington rain might steal their batting thunder. In fact, the weather did them a good turn next day, adding a chilly edge to a stiff southerly: not Sri Lanka's idea of pleasant bowling conditions. Vaas, like Martin, found menacing swing and was a persistent thorn in the New Zealand side. Again like Martin, he seized the first six wickets, including Fleming for 88, his highest score in 13 Test innings. Twice Vaas was on a hat-trick, the second time when the total was 294 for six and their situation not yet hopeless. But Vincent, whose Test place might have been in doubt had he failed, dug in for a six-hour century that took the match beyond Sri Lanka.

With Vaas losing his bite in the cold, Vincent counter-attacked brilliantly, dominating valuable stands for the seventh, eighth and ninth wickets which together added 205 runs. Dropped on 193 by Jayasuriya, Vincent sailed on to his maiden double-hundred, and had faced 348 balls, hit 25 fours and four sixes and batted 11 minutes short of nine hours when he was run out for 224. (Had he completed his 225th, he would have become the first batsman to reach 1,000 first-class runs in a New Zealand season for four years.) Fleming declared 311 ahead, and before the third day was out, Vincent had shown Jayasuriya no gratitude for his earlier reprieve when he caught him for two. Sri Lanka staggered to stumps at ten for one, 301 behind.

New Zealand needed less than one of the two days available to dismiss the Sri Lankans a second time, despite rearguard actions from several recognised batsmen, plus the night-watchman Maharoof, who survived longer than any of his team-mates. Franklin, taking his turn to bowl with the wind at his back, claimed four wickets with his potent left-arm seam; Astle filched another three upwind, and New Zealand's long, hard season ended on an upbeat note.

Man of the Match: L. Vincent.