Sri Lanka opted to bowl v New Zealand
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and opted to bowl first under cloudy skies at Hagley Oval, on a surface with enough grass to excite the seam bowlers. Kane Williamson said he would have bowled first as well.
Sri Lanka made two changes to their XI from Wellington – both of them “tactical” according to Chandimal. Batsman Roshen Silva, who was impressive in his two Tests at home against England last month, replaced Dhananjaya de Silva, who was out cheaply twice in Wellington. Whether Silva will slot in at No. 3 where de Silva had batted, or whether there will be a wholesale re-shuffling of the top order to accommodate Silva in a more familiar middle-order position remains to be seen.
The less surprising change was the inclusion of fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera, who had had success in New Zealand during the 2015-16 tour when he claimed 12 wickets at an average of 24. Though injuries have stymied his career since that tour, the bounce and pace Chameera is capable of generating aided his selection, on a surface expected to hold its pace through the course of the Test much better than the one at Basin Reserve had. Chameera replaced Kasun Rajitha, who finished with figures of 0 for 144 in Wellington.
New Zealand, meanwhile, are unchanged, which means fast bowler Neil Wagner keeps his place in the XI over Matt Henry.
Cloudy skies are expected for the duration of the first day, with a slight chance of showers.
New Zealand: 1 Jeet Raval, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Neil Wagner, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Trent Boult
Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Roshen Silva, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (capt), 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Lahiru Kumara
Source: ESPN Crickinfo