The second Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand commenced in Galle on Thursday, with Sri Lanka winning the toss and opting to bat first. This marked the sixth consecutive toss victory for Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva, highlighting his team’s recent dominance in this aspect of the game.
Sri Lanka made two significant changes to their winning lineup from the first Test. Off-spinner Nishan Peiris, who has been performing well in domestic cricket and for Sri Lanka A, earned his debut, replacing Ramesh Mendis, who had claimed six wickets in the previous match. All-rounder Milan Rathnayake was brought in for fast bowler Lahiru Kumara, demonstrating Sri Lanka’s focus on bolstering their lower-order batting.
“It looks a flat wicket and we need to bat and put on a big total,” said Dhananjaya. “We have some concerns with our lower order batting and hence we brought in Milan Rathnayake. Obviously, it is a big day for Nishan Peiris making his debut.”
New Zealand, on the other hand, opted for an unchanged side in their bid to level the series. Captain Tim Southee acknowledged the advantage of batting first in these conditions, but expressed confidence in their ability to succeed even batting second, citing their performance in the first Test. “You come to this part of the world and you would like to bat first as it gets tough as the game moves on,” said Southee. “But we saw we gave ourselves a chance in the last Test batting last here so we know we are capable of doing it again.”
The teams lined up as follows:
Sri Lanka:
Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Nishan Peiris, Prabath Jayasuriya, Milan Rathnayake.New Zealand:
Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Wiliamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (captain), Ajaz Patel, Will O’Rourke.The match will be officiated by Nitin Menon (India) and Michael Gough (England) as umpires, with Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) serving as the third umpire. Javagal Srinath (India) will act as the match referee.
