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Guptill ton gives New Zealand first day honours

By The Assam Tribune

DUNEDIN (NEW ZEALAND), Dec 10: Martin Guptill rebounded from a horror Australian series with his third century to guide New Zealand to a strong position on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka today.

On a Dunedin pitch said to be ripe for seam bowlers, New Zealand responded to losing the toss by amassing 409 for eight.

Opener Guptill contributed 156 before he fell just before stumps, the ever-reliable Kane Williamson made 88 and Brendon McCullum 75 as New Zealand exposed the rawness of the Sri Lanka line-up. The green wicket suggested bowlers would rule but when Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and made New Zealand bat he was let down by his attack.

New Zealand were 229 for two at tea before Sri Lanka fought back in the final session when they took six wickets, but for an expensive 180 runs.

There were only seven maiden overs bowled and New Zealand cracked 57 fours, of which Guptill contributed 21.

His third century came in his 41st innings and four years after he last posted three figures against Zimbabwe and he was dismissed 33 runs short of his highest score, 189 against Bangladesh in 2010.

Inconsistent form saw him out of the Black Caps for two years before the short-form of the game resurrected his career when he played a starring role in the World Cup earlier this year.

Determined to make amends for a poor showing in the recent series in Australia, in which he averaged just over 13, Guptill took a careful look at the first eight balls from Sri Lanka before getting off the mark with an off-drive to the boundary.

In an innings filled with elegant shots, he used the same front foot stroke to bring up his 100 when he drove Suranga Lakmal to the boundary.

There were a few chances � two shaky edges and a near run out early in the innings and two lbw shouts on 78.

SCORECARD

New Zealand 1st innings: M Guptill c Chandimal b Mathews 156, T Latham c & b Lakmal 22, K Williamson c Karunaratne b Pradeep 88, R Taylor lbw b Pradeep 8, B McCullum c Vithanage b Siriwardana 75, M Santner c Chandimal b Chameera 12, B Watling c Vithanage b Chameera 5, D Bracewell not out 32, T Southee c Siriwardana b Lakmal 2, N Wagner not out 0. Extras: (B-4, LB-3, W-1, NB-1) 9. Total: (for 8 wickets, 90 overs) 409. Fall of wicket: 1-56, 2-229, 3-245, 4-334, 5-359, 6-365, 7-394, 8-399. Bowling: Lakmal 16-1-69-2, Pradeep 20-2-101-2, Mathews 9-2-28-1, Chameera 17-1-101-2, Herath 19-1-46-0, Jayasundera 5-0-33-0, Siriwardana 4-0-24-1. � AFP

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