Wellington, Dec 14:
Sri Lanka will hope to put poor form and off-field chaos behind them when they face New Zealand in the first Test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve on Saturday.
The tourists’ preparations have been anything but smooth, with changes to their coaching staff increasing pressure on a team coming off a 3-0 Test series whitewash against England last month.
Former England player Jonathan Lewis was named as the side’s new batting coach this week, joining Australia’s Steve Rixon, who was brought in as fielding coach last week. Sri Lanka’s bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa was suspended by the International Cricket Council in October after he was accused of match-fixing and other “corrupt conduct”.
Fourth-ranked New Zealand enter the series full of confidence after securing their first away Test series win over Pakistan in 49 years, to give coach Gary Stead a winning start to his tenure.
New Zealand have named a 13-man squad for the series while Sri Lanka have 17 players to choose from, giving them added optiono with the bat. The two Test series will be followed by three one-dayers and a single twenty20 match.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, BJ Watling, Will Young, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera. (Agencies)
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