WELLINGTON : Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and chose to bowl in the second Test against New Zealand on a green-tinged pitch at Wellington’s Basin Reserve today.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has now lost seven tosses in 10 test matches at home and Mathews had no hesitation in inserting his opponents, though a lot of the grass evident on the wicket yesterday had browned off. ‘Yeah it was a pretty easy decision,’ Mathews said. ‘There is a lot of grass in it and we are playing four seamers, including myself, so we will look to take the early advantage.’
New Zealand had some injury concerns before the game with Tim Southee nursing a sore ankle, but he passed a fitness test earlier today.
New Zealand still made one change to the side that won the first match in Christchurch by eight wickets with Doug Bracewell replacing Neil Wagner as the third seamer. ‘Probably the toughest call we have had to make in a little while but we thought a horses-for-courses approach with Doug Bracewell on this wicket gives him an opportunity,’ McCullum said while adding Bracewell’s ability to swing the ball had been a factor. ‘Neil is an outstanding asset for us on a flat wicket, he just keeps running in, bowls a lot of overs and does the donkey work but complements the other guys so well. ‘That’s the challenge for Doug in this game.’ Sri Lanka had been sweating on left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who missed the first match with a leg injury, but he passed a fitness test before play began and he replaces Tharindu Kaushal.
Batsman Dinesh Chandimal has replaced Niroshan Dickwella in the middle order, while pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep replaced Shaminda Eranga as Mathews reiterated they would look to attack from the outset to try to level the two-match series.
‘We have nothing to lose,’ he said. ‘If you lose the series 1-0 or 2-0 it doesn’t matter, we are out here to win to square the series and we will look to do that.’ New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Tom Latham, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Jimmy Neesham, BJ Watling, Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene, Rangana Herath, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
(AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel