Galle, Aug 13 (UNI) Fresh from a 3-0 win in the one-day international series against
Bangladesh, hosts Sri Lanka will look to translate that form to the longest format
when they face New Zealand in the first of a two-Test series, beginning on
Wednesday here.
When they toured New Zealand in December 2018, Sri Lanka showed immense
grit and resistance to save the first Test, but were outplayed in the second, losing
by 423 runs – their heaviest defeat ever in terms of runs.
However, this time, in spin-friendly conditions, Dimuth Karunaratne's men will be
confident of taking the lead.
New Zealand have won five successive Test series since December 2017, but are
yet to win a series in Sri Lanka since they first toured in 1984. Furthermore, the
visitors couldn't get much match practice, with only 65.5 overs of play possible in
the rain-affected warm-up game against Sri Lanka Board President's XI.
In that time, however, Ajaz Patel, the left-arm spinner, was able to make a strong
case for himself with returns of 5/41 in his 10-over spell, an ICC report said.
In December 2018, after the first Test in Wellington ended in a draw, Sri Lanka's
new ball pair of Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara ran through New Zealand to
bundle them out for 178 in the first innings. However, Trent Boult returned the
favour, picking 6/30 as Sri Lanka managed just 104, conceding a 74-run lead.
Then, daddy hundreds from Tom Latham (176) and Henry Nicholls (162) extended
New Zealand's lead further to 659 as the hosts posted 585/4 in their second innings.
Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner then shared nine wickets to bowl Sri Lanka out
for 236 for a thumping 423-run win.
Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka captain said, “This is the time we have to bring
some youngsters for the next couple of years. We’ve had an issue recently, where
we didn’t have that strong bench. But players are now ready, and they’ll grab the
chances that come their way. You need a lot of players to build up that competition
within a team, so that players are constantly putting pressure on each other to
perform."
Gary Stead, New Zealand coach said, "The thing that impressed me most about
this team is their ability to adapt quickly to situations. When you consider playing at
Abu Dhabi or Colombo, and then New Zealand conditions, your players must adjust
quickly, and that's the real strength of this team. It's led by Kane (Williamson), and
he's led from the front in terms of how we go about doing that."
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