New Zealand will open their home summer with the first Test against Sri Lanka in the two-match series which starts on 10th December at the University Oval in Dunedin.
The hosts’ will begin as the clear favourites against the wounded lions. In their most recent series Sri Lanka beat West Indies 2-0, while New Zealand were at the receiving end of an identical score line in an away series in Australia. Sri Lanka are among New Zealand’s current sequence of 11 unbeaten Tests at home having suffered two comprehensive defeats at the start of last summer.
The Kiwis’ will love the cool weather and green pitches which suits their style of play while the South Asian islanders will need their inexperienced Test outfit to grab this opportunity with both hands and build their own legacy by creating a major upset win.
Dhammika Prasad’s tour-ending back injury in the warm-up game and first-choice wicket keeper/batsman Kusal Perera’s exile after testing positive to a banned substance has made a tough assignment even more daunting for a squad that has played their last eight tests in Colombo, Galle or Pallekele.
For Sri Lanka to win, their unproven batsman will have to make most of the limited acclimatization opportunity they were provided in form of the three-day warm up game. Their raw seam bowling attack will have to bend their backs that little bit more and hit right areas with such consistency that they can hope to then beat New Zealand at their own game.
Captain Marvel, Angelo Mathews will once again be expected to lead the way with both bat and ball and Sri Lanka’s will also depend a lot on Dinesh Chandimal and opener Dimuth Karunaratne. Udara Jayasundara is certain to play his first Test match while Kithruwan Vithanage finds himself reinstated to the top order after an impressive A tour of New Zealand in October while 20-year-old Kusal Mendis, who has one Test and only 11 first-class games on his resume, will also retain his place.
Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling spearhead Dhammika Prasad’s pain could end up being Dushmantha Chameera’s gain. The 23-year-old speedster has only played two Tests in his career so far, but he boosted his hopes of adding to his number of appearances with a 4 for 57 against a New Zealand Board President’s XI in the tour game. Rangana Herath will need the pitch to wear down until he becomes a potent weapon for the visitors.
Other than Martin Guptill’s continuing under-performance at Test level the Black Caps appear a settled unit with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are in supreme form, having scored runs by the bucketful in the series against Australia. With five left-handers in the top 8 of the Sri Lankan batting lineup, struggling off-spinner Mark Craig could well retain his spot despite Neil Wagner knocking on the door strongly with impressive showings in the tour game.
There is not much rain expected for the course of the game but the visitors will dearly love some sunlight on a seam-friendly greenish deck. Sri Lankans must believe in their talent and potential to outgun the Kiwis but they are expected to come second to a team who have recently made their home turf, a fortress.
Probable Sri Lanka XI – Dimuth Karunarathne, Udara Jayasundara, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (Captain), Kithruwan Vithanage, Milinda Siriwardana, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera.
Probable New Zealand XI – Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Mitchell Santner, BJ Watling, Mark Craig, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
The match will commence at 3.30am (SL Time).
