Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
In Galle, Sri Lanka again won the toss and, predictably, decided to bat first. This means that, on what should be another exciting match, New Zealand will bat last once more. Following Sri Lanka’s sixth consecutive and seventh out of eight tosses this year, Dhananjaya de Silva commented that the pitch appeared “firmer than the last one with less grass”.
Both of Sri Lanka‘s revisions were already known. After impressing both with bat and ball in his maiden series in England, Milan Rathnayake replaced Lahiru Kumara, and Nishan Peiris made his debut in lieu of offspinner Ramesh Mendis in a like-for-like swap. In the first Test, Kumara did not take a wicket while Ramesh took six wickets but occasionally lacked discipline.
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Match Updates
The 27-year-old Peiris has taken 172 wickets at an average of 24.37 in 41 first-class games.
After a valiant effort in the first Test, which they lost by a narrow margin of 63 runs, New Zealand proceeded unchanged.
Even though it was sunny and bright at the time of the toss, Galle is likely to have brief, intense showers.
With their sights set on another domestic triumph, Sri Lanka is rising in the WTC standings, presently ranked third after Australia and India. They will be right behind Australia (62.50%) with 56% points if they win at Galle again.
Prior to their India tour, New Zealand would like to improve on their encouraging first Test performance. With 42.85% points, they are ranked fourth on the standings.
The following players represent Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karuanaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Milan Rathnayake, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Nishan Peiris, 11 Asitha Fernando.
Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, and three more are from New Zealand. 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell, workweek 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Will O’Rourke, 10 Ajaz Patel, and 11 Tim Southee (captain).
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