Marshall ton puts Black Caps on top

Hamish Marshall's second Test century was the highlight of the opening day of the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Napier.

Marshall was unbeaten on 133 when stumps were drawn early due to bad light at McLean Park as the Black Caps reached 267 for three, with Nathan Astle was 37 not out.

It was a day to celebrate for the Marshall family as Hamish's twin brother James scored his maiden Test half-century in just his third Test innings.

The pair were united at the crease following the dismissal of opener Craig Cumming for 12 at the drinks break in the morning session and they pushed the Black Caps towards a decent total with a 107-run partnership as both brought up their half-centuries in the session after lunch.

Hamish Marshall took just 95 balls to claim his third Test 50 and brought up his 53 with a well-taken six straight down the ground off spinner Rangana Herath.

His twin, who was dropped when on 10, needed an extra 52 balls with his 50 coming off 147 balls and including five boundaries before he edged to Thilan Samaraweera in the slips off Upul Chandana in the next over to be dismissed for 52.

Hamish Marshall, continued the excellent form he showed against Australia, and grew in confidence in the afternoon and by tea had reached 84 with his skipper Stephen Fleming alongside him on 11.

Fleming never looked settled in his 49-minute stay as he struggled to time the ball and after suffering a torrid time against the unorthodox bowling of Lasith Malinga.

The Marshall twins and Nathan Astle were also troubled early in their innings by the paceman.

Fleming finally played one back on to his stumps and was dismissed for 16.

In the second over of the day after Malinga had bowled his first ball James Marshall asked umpire Darrell Hair to remove his tie as he could not see the release of the ball due to the low release point.

Astle joined Marshall at the crease with New Zealand on 187 for three following Fleming's dismissal and the pair added 80 runs before play ended 20 minutes early because of bad light.

Prior to that though, Marshall brought up 172-ball his ton with a single of Malinga in an innings that included 12 fours and a six.

Sri Lanka captain Marvin Atapattu used seven bowlers in a bid to break down the New Zealand batsman.

After taking the early wicket of Cumming, Chaminda Vaas was less effective as the day wore on ending with figures of one for 63 off 18 overs.

Malinga was finally rewarded for his toil with Fleming's scalp to finish with one for 37 off 14 overs, while Kulasekara was unlucky to go wicket-less on his debut and ended with figures of nought for 38 off 17 overs.

Chandana took one for 61 runs.

Sri Lanka have not played any international cricket since their original tour to New Zealand was ended prematurely by the Boxing Day tsunami and their last Test was in Karachi back in October.