William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! That has been banged away to the fence!
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, Bowled back of a length and outside off, Pathum Nissanka gets nicely up on his toes and punches the ball square past the point region for a brace.
Score after
6
overs
23 - 1
- Dinesh Chandimal 2 (3)
- Pathum Nissanka 17 (19)
Tim Southee to Dinesh Chandimal, Slight hesitation but eventually, the ball goes through the infield. Full again and around off, Dinesh Chandimal leans on and strokes the ball past Ajaz Patel at cover-point and gets off the mark with a couple of runs.
Tim Southee to Dinesh Chandimal, Lovely shape on that one! Bowled really full on middle and leg, shaping away but it s gentle swing and Chandimal is able to let the ball come on and make the block.
Tim Southee to Dinesh Chandimal, Floated up around off stump, Dinesh Chandimal gets on the front foot and punches it gently towards mid off.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, Pulls the length back and straightens the line, Nissanka tucks it away in front of square leg and picks up a single.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, Bowled short and wide, a bit too wide and this one stays low, Pathum Nissanka goes chasing after the wdth but misses again.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, No run. Swing and a miss! The batter swings hard at that one but does not connect.
Dinesh Chandimal walks in at number 3.
Score after
5
overs
20 - 1
- Dimuth Karunaratne 2 (8)
- Pathum Nissanka 16 (16)
William O'Rourke to Dimuth Karunaratne, OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! The tall fast bowler has drawn first blood here and Sri Lanka are rocked early. William O'Rourke stays around the wicket and bowls this one at 138 clicks, on a fractionally short length. The ball is angled in a bit and leaves the left-hander wth some extra bounce as well. Dimuth Karunaratne gets cramped up looking to defend but only manages a loopy outside edge to the left of the keeper and Tom Blundell makes no error.
William O'Rourke to Dimuth Karunaratne, Comes from around the wicket to the left-hander and angles the ball in towards the top of off stump, Karunaratne presses back and comfortably defends it out.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, Just a smidge fuller now and attacking the stumps, Pathum Nissanka looks to block off the front foot but gets an inside edge just behind square leg for a single.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, On a hard length again and around off, Pathum Nissanka stays in his crease and defends it towards cover.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, Hits the deck hard and bowls this one over the stumps, Nissanka hops and blocks it just to the leg side.
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William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Not in complete control but played well enough. Banged in short and around off, jagging back in, Pathum Nissanka gets cramped for room and slashes it off the outside edge over the gully region and picks up another boundary.
Score after
4
overs
15 - 0
- Pathum Nissanka 11 (12)
- Dimuth Karunaratne 2 (6)
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, Hard length in and around off stump, Pathum Nissanka just bunts it out with soft hands onto the off side and picks up a quick single.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Oh, that is sloppy fielding from Mitchell Santner. Full and outside off, shaping away, Pathum Nissanka drives it on the up and to the left of covers where Santner is lazy and fails to get low enough, letting it through for a boundary.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, Pitched up on off stump, holding its line as well, Pathum Nissanka solidly blocks it off the front foot.
Tim Southee to Dimuth Karunaratne, Half a shout for LBW but pitching outside leg. A tad full and on the pads, swinging back in quite late, Karunaratne misses the tuck and the ball goes off the pads to the leg side. They pick up a quick leg bye.
Tim Southee to Dimuth Karunaratne, On a good length now around off and angling away sharply, Dimuth Karunaratne watches it well and lets it through.
Tim Southee to Dimuth Karunaratne, Full and on the pads, sliding it down the leg side, Karunaratne fails to flick it away.
Score after
3
overs
9 - 0
- Pathum Nissanka 6 (9)
- Dimuth Karunaratne 2 (3)
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, Full and straight, looking to slide one through the gate but Pathum Nissanka manages to flick it away past square leg and picks up a couple of runs.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, William O'Rourke is really making the ball talk here! Just short of a length and around off, the ball jags back in a fair bit and Nissanka has to get on hs toes to keep it out.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, Fuller in length now and angling back in a long way, Pathum Nissanka falls over a bit while looking to flick but gets hit on the thigh pad.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, Another one that is banged in on a hard length and over off, Pathum Nissanka gets right behind the line of the ball and makes the block.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, On a hard length around off and middle, this one nips back in after pitching, Nissanka hops and nudges it away to the leg side.
William O'Rourke to Pathum Nissanka, William O'Rourke runs in from over the wicket and hits the deck right away, bangs it in outside off and extracts some additional bounce. Pathum Nissanka is taken aback but manages to sway away.
William O'Rourke to steam in from the opposite end.
- Dimuth Karunaratne 2 (3)
- Pathum Nissanka 4 (3)
Tim Southee to Dimuth Karunaratne, A dot to end the first over and Sri Lanka are already 7/0! Bowled on a fuller length and in the channel outside off, a hint of inswing but Karunaratne shoulders arms at it.
Tim Southee to Dimuth Karunaratne, Pitches the ball up now and around off stump, Dimuth Karunaratne leans on to block but gets it off the outer half of the bat towards point.
Tim Southee to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length, a bit too straight and angling into the left-hander. Dimuth Karunaratne stays put and tucks it away neatly wide of deep backward square leg for a couple of runs.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, Half a shout for LBW but seemed to be going down leg. Southee floats it up on the pads, looking for that magical away swinger but the ball slides on and clips the back pad of Pathum Nissanka before rolling away past short fine leg. They get a leg bye.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, Similar length, just a tad outside off, Pathum Nissanka presses back and gently blocks it away towards covers.
Tim Southee to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Oh, inside edge right away! Southee bowls this one just short of a good length and on off, gets the ball to nip away and gets additional bounce as well. Pathum Nissanka looks to defend off the back foot but gets an inside edge that goes past the stumps and into the fine leg fence.
All in readiness for the game to begin! The umpires are out in the middle and so are the players of New Zealand who form a huddle before taking their places on the field. It will be the pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka to open the innings for Sri Lanka. Skipper, Tim Southee well take the new ball for the Kiwis and is raring to go. Three slips and a gully in place, let's go...
We are just a few minutes away from the start of this Test match but first, the two sets of players will line up for their respective national anthems. It will be the national anthem of New Zealand first, followed by that of Sri Lanka.
PITCH REPORT - Farvez Maharoof is pitchside. He says that the conditions look fantastic and goes on to say that the pitch looks the same and adds that there is a lot of grass on the pitch which will aid the pacers early on. Mentions that a big first innings score is always crucial in Galle.
Tim Southee, the captain of New Zealand says that when you come to this part of the world you want to bat first and adds that they have a couple of proper spinners and a couple of batters who can bowl spin and it's nice to get back to Test cricket.
Pitch Report
"The conditions look fantastic, the pitch looks good, there's plenty of grass on the surface which is covered by some brown grass. That means there will be movement with the new ball for the first 30-45 minutes. It's still a bat first pitch as always at this venue, get 400-450 and bring the spinners into play." -- Farveez Maharoof
Dhananjaya de Silva, the captain of Sri Lanka says that they will bat first the fourth innings will be difficult and adds that they are going in with 2 proper spinners and 2 fast bowlers. Adds that the team is motivated and is looking forward to this competition.
New Zealand Playing XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
Sri Lanka Playing XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (w), Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kamindu Mendis, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first against New Zealand
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle.
New Zealand (Playing XI) - Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (WK), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (C), Ajaz Patel, William O'Rourke.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI) - Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (C), Kusal Mendis (WK), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando.