Sri Lanka prepare for New Zealand challenge with unchanged T20I squad
Sri Lanka have named a strong 16-member squad led by Charith Asalanka for a six-match white-ball series involving three T20Is followed by three ODIs, against New Zealand.
Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne on Thursday won the toss and chose to bat first against England in the second match of the two-match Test series. The toss at P Sara Oval Stadium in Colombo was delayed due to rain.
Sri Lanka were 29 without loss after 13 overs.
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For Sri Lanka, Dilruwan Perera comes in place of Akila Dananjaya and for New Zealand, Colin de Grandhomme replaced Mitchell Santner.
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“You get some movement in the first few overs, we need to play that watchfully. The boys are in pretty good shape. As a senior player you have to take the onus and get few runs under your belt. One change, Akila (Dananjaya) misses out, Dilruwan (Perera) comes in,” said Karunaratne after winning the toss.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson: “It’s the last match of the series, need to improve in this game. There were positives in the last game, but expecting an improved performance. We thought it (pitch in the last match) was going to age quicker – but it didn’t really happen. Hopefully, we can take few early wickets. It’s a good surface, hopefully, we get swing initially and assess the conditions as the game goes on.”
Talking about the series so far, Sri Lanka won the first match by 6 wickets and lead the series 1-0.
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara
New Zealand: Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, William Somerville, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult
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