Southee to Karunaratne, no run, fuller and skids on slightly onto the pads, Karunaratne closes the bat face towards square leg
0.2
Southee to Nissanka, 1 run, 128 clicks, on a length and gets some away shape. Punched to covers for a quick run to get off the mark
0.1
Southee to Nissanka, no run
Nissanka and Karunaratne are at the crease. Nissanka is on strike. Southee will open the attack
Fomer Sri Lankan spinner Dilruwan Perera hands the cap to debutant Nishan Peiris, cheers all around! And now the Sri Lankan openers walk out. Tim Southee has the new ball to himself.
Tim Southee: Would have liked to bat first, but like the first Test we know if we bat well we give ourselves a chance. Same team for us, back the guys to keep improving
Dhananjaya de Silva: Pitch looks quite firm with less grass, we will bat first.
Pitch Report: It is a hot and humid day and we have moved to pitch number 7.
Teams:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kusal Mendis(w), Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando
Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to bat
New Zealand fought hard in the first Test but the tryst with spin proved to be too much for them in the fourth innings. Nevertheless, there were plenty of positives for them, specially their new tall, hit the deck pacer Will O’Rourke who was super impressive in his first away Test. Plenty of old, familiar faces in this New Zealand that is potentially grappling with a lop-sided transition in the near future, but for now the experience of Southee and Williamson coupled with the promise of O’Rourke and Rachin Ravindra make them an exciting little side that are sure to challenge Sri Lanka in this Test match. There was plenty of riveting, good quality cricket on display in the first Test, and this Test should be no different. Stick around for the toss…
09:09 Local Time, 03:39 GMT, 09:09 IST: A very good morning for a picturesque Galle Cricket Stadium which will play host once again to the Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Winds of change seem to be blowing in Sri Lanka, and that has percolated onto their cricket as well with back to back Test wins for the island nation against quality opposition like England and New Zealand. Prabath Jayasuriya - their talisman for home games, is in the pink of form once again with 9 wickets in the first Test, while Ramesh Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva also impressed on a spin friendly wicket. On the batting front, the experience of Karunaratne, Mathews and Chandimal combined brilliantly to blunt out a fiery New Zealand bowling attack, and the home wins would want their big boys to step up once again.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kusal Mendis(w), Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando
Preview
The opening Test of the two-match series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand had a lot of ebbs and flows to it. Like any typical Test match at Galle, momentum shifts were drastic and eventually, the most frequent result of a Sri Lanka win surfaced.
It's been a good year for the Lankans in Test cricket although the sample size of matches played isn't big enough to make significant conclusions. Wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh were followed by the England tour, where Sri Lanka managed to nail a win in the third and final Test. That momentum rubbed off into the first Test at Galle as the Lankans were relentless even when under the pump.
Kamindu Mendis once again rose to the occasion with a majestic first innings ton but Sri Lanka would be disappointed at the other batters not converting their starts in both innings. To an extent, the second innings performance was excusable with the ball gripping and turning square but in general, the batting did underperform for the home side. The bowling also wasn't consistent with Ramesh Mendis in particular having a torrid time despite helpful conditions on offer. To their credit, New Zealand capitalised on every drawback from their opponents to stretch the game deep.
The visitors, however, would have hoped for a lot more from their talisman Kane Williamson who got fluent starts in both innings, only to slip at crucial junctures of the game. He along with Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell continue to the bedrock of New Zealand's batting, and the trio will need to better their performance in the second Test if the visitors wish to draw level. Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra and William O'Rourke put in standout performances which suggest that the support act is there for the Black Caps, it is for their lead actors to show the way.
When: 2nd Test, September 26-30, 10 AM local time
Where: Galle International Stadium, Galle
What to expect: Historically, the venue has aided the spinners with the first couple of days being the best time to bat. The opening Test match had all the ingredients of a traditional 'Galle Test' and expect more of the same. It is a rainy week in Galle and there could be partial interruptions during the game.
Team news
Sri Lanka
While winning combinations are generally not altered, Sri Lanka are expected to make two changes to their playing XI for this game. Lahiru Kumara's workload needs to be managed while Ramesh Mendis is likely to face the axe. Milan Rathnayake, who impressed during his debut series in England, is set to come in while uncapped off-spinner Nishan Peiris is line for a debut.
Despite the defeat, the visitors have little reason to change their playing XI as they were right in the game till the end. The only option to think of, might be the inclusion of Michael Bracewell to add another spin option while also deepening the batting. However, William O'Rourke's pace was an x-factor that troubled the Lankans, so he should keep his spot barring last-minute niggles.
Probable XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell(wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Ajaz Patel, William ORourke.
What they said
"The win in England boosted our morale, we've the ability to win Tests and the boys are delivering now." - Dhananjaya de Silva
"Toss is very important in this part of the world, would've been great to make first use of a wicket like this. But as we saw, there's no reason we couldn't have come out here and won the game if we managed to get a bigger first innings lead." - Tim Southee
Squads:
Sri Lanka Squad: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kusal Mendis(w), Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Ramesh Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Jeffrey Vandersay, Oshada Fernando
New Zealand Squad: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Ajaz Patel, William ORourke, Michael Bracewell, Will Young, Matt Henry, Ben Sears
Sri Lanka
New Zealand
