New Zealand’s tail-enders kept fighting as they reached 8-396 at tea on the second day of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.
The New Zealanders lost three wickets in the afternoon session at P. Sara Oval, but added 98 runs on their way to compile a competitive total in the first innings.
New Zealand have lost their five previous Tests and on none of those occasions have managed to post 400 runs.
After a record 262-run stand between captain Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, New Zealand lost four wickets cheaply. But Daniel Flynn put up a good fight reaching a half-century, needing 127 balls for his 50 and hitting three fours.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who won the man-of-the-match award in Galle in the first Test that Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets. He was yet again the pick of the bowlers, claiming 4-100 in dismissing Taylor and Williamson, the two batsmen who scored centuries.
Taylor was dismissed for 142 in the morning session while Williamson went on to post a career-best 135. He batted for more than seven hours.