The creature's discovery has astounded scientists because their age puts them within two recognized groups of pterodactyls -- primitive long-tailed forms and advanced short-tail forms -- and they display characteristics of both.
"We had always expected a gap-filler with typically intermediate features such as a moderately elongate tail -- neither long nor short -- but the strange thing about Darwinopterus is that it has a head and neck just like that of advanced pterosaurs, while the rest of the skeleton, including a very long tail, is identical to that of primitive forms, " he said.
The South African tail-ender deposited his five maximums over the short leg-side boundary, sharing a ninth-wicket stand of 71 with Naqaash Tahir, who was dropped twice on three by Dale Benkenstein at third slip.
Prasanna Jayawardene contributed a useful 25 before he was leg-before to spinner Daniel Vettori, who also accounted for Farveez Maharoof and Malinga for figures of 3-53 as the Kiwis made short work of Sri Lanka's tail.