Toss Sri Lanka opt to bat vs New Zealand

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test against New Zealand in Galle.

In the batting department, Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal were promoted up the order, to No. 5 and No. 3, respectively, while Kusal Mendis, who has the wicketkeeping gloves, will be pushed down to No. 7.

It’s a gloomy morning in Galle, and rain is forecast for the day – and indeed, on all of the days of this Test. The pitch has fair bit of grass, something unusual for a Galle surface, which could suggest some early movement for the seamers. Dhananjaya de Silva, though, said the decision to bat first was a no-brainer, with the pitch expected to deteriorate as the game wears on.

Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Lahiru Kumara, 11 Asitha Fernando

New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee (capt), 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Will O’Rourke