Lou Vincent blasted a double-century to put New Zealand in complete control of the second and final Test with Sri Lanka in Wellington on Wednesday.
Vincent smashed 224, the seventh highest score by a New Zealander in Test cricket and more than double his previous best, to help the Black Caps amass a daunting total of 522 for nine declared.
That left New Zealand with a first innings lead of 311 after they had skittled the tourists for just 211 on the opening day.
Sri Lanka wiped 10 runs off the deficit before bad light ended play early at the Basin Reserve but suffered a major setback when they lost opener Sanath Jayasuriya on the third day.
Jayasuriya departed for two in the third over when Chris Martin found the edge and Vincent took a sharp catch at third slip.
Captain Marvan Atapattu survived seven tricky overs to reach the close unbeaten on five with nightwatchman Farveez Maharoof on one, leaving the tourists facing an uphill task to save the match.
Vincent batted nearly nine hours and faced 348 balls in a marathon innings that featured 25 boundaries and four sixes.
He started the day on 79 and crawled to 93 at lunch after rain washed out most of the morning session. When play resumed after the interval, he carefully brought up his third Test hundred off 223 balls then suddenly accelerated, blasting 101 between lunch and tea.
He had a lucky escape on 193 when he was dropped in the deep by Jayasuriya but kept his cool to smack Upul Chandana to the boundary rope to raise his double-century off 339 deliveries, raising his bat in triumph.
Vincent became the 10th New Zealander to score a Test double-hundred before notching another 24 to climb to seventh place on the all-time list before he was eventually run out trying to scamper home for two.
VITAL PARTNERSHIPS
Vincent also shared in a series of vital partnerships that kept the New Zealand total ticking along including a 141-run stand with his skipper Stephen Fleming, who missed his hundred by 12 runs.
The Kiwis had resumed on 253-4 and Fleming signalled their intentions early when he pulled Maharoof over mid-wicket for six in the first over, with the ball trickling down a drain and needing replacing.
Fleming survived a confident appeal for caught behind on 69 but his luck ran out on 88 when he skied a Chaminda Vaas hook shot to Shantha Kalavitigoda at deep square leg, ending a 211-minute, 176-ball innings that included 11 fours and a six.
Vaas dismissed Brendon McCullum for a golden duck off the next ball to capture his sixth wicket of the innings but any hopes of a Sri Lankan comeback were immediately snuffed out by Vincent, who featured in three successive record partnerships.
He shared a 48-run stand with James Franklin for the seventh wicket, a 98-run partnership with Kyle Mills for the eighth wicket then a 59-run stand with Paul Wiseman for the ninth wicket before being dismissed himself.
Scoreboard:
Sri Lanka 1st innings: 211 all out (T. Samaraweera 73; C. Martin 6-54)
New Zealand 1st innings (Overnight: 253-4)
C. Cumming lbw b Vaas 47
J. Marshall lbw b Vaas 28
H. Marshall c Jayawardene b Vaas 6
L. Vincent run out 224
N. Astle c Kalavitigoda b Vaas 0
S. Fleming c Kalavitigoda b Vaas 88
B. McCullum c & b Vaas 0
J. Franklin lbw b Malinga 15
K. Mills c Jayawardene b Malinga 31
P. Wiseman not out 32
C. Martin not out 4
Extras (b-11 lb-23 nb-12 w-1) 47
Total (for 9 wickets declared, 146 overs) 522
Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-70, 3-153, 4-153, 5-294, 6-294, 7-342, 8-440, 9-499.
Bowling: Vaas 40-12-108-6 (nb-9), Malinga 34-2-124-2 (nb-2 w-1), Maharoof 28-10-96- 0, Jayawardene 6-2-14-0, Chandana 28-4-97-0 (nb-1), Jayasuriya 9-2-34-0, Dilshan 1-0-15-0
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
S. Jayasuriya c Vincent b Martin 2
M. Atapattu not out 5
F. Maharoof not out 1
Extras (lb-2) 2
Total (for 1 wickets, 7 overs) 10
Fall of wickets: 1-6.
To bat: K. Sangakkara, M. Jayawardene, T. Samaraweera, T . Dilshan, S. Kalavitigoda, C. Vaas, U. Chandana, L. Malinga
Bowling: Martin 3-2-2-1, Mills1-0-3- 0, Vincent1-0-2-0, Astle1-1-0-0, Wiseman1-0-1-0.
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