CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand captain Tim Southee won the toss and elected to bowl under overcast skies at the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Christchurch Thursday.
The Hagley Oval wicket has its traditional emerald sheen offering encouragement to the fast bowlers which made the decision obvious for Southee.
“We’ll have a bowl. Obviously there’s a bit of a green tinge in the wicket and that’s what you do here at Hagley,” he said.
Sri Lanka have an outside chance of making the World Test Championship final if they sweep the two-Test series.
The visitors have experience in their batting stocks but look light on pace among their bowlers.
Their captain Dimuth Karunaratne said they hope to see signs of spin as the match unfolds.
“If you pass the first session, it should be good. We have a chance to make the (world) final, boys are doing well, we need to go one Test at a time,” he said.
“Past doesn’t matter, if we play well we will have a good chance. We’ll have three pacers, but will play a spinner.”
New Zealand are looking to back up their sensational one-run win over England last week.
The Black Caps dropped batsman Will Young in favour of seamer Blair Tickner who adds an extra fast bowling option to their ranks.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee (capt), Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, Blair Tickner
Sri Lanka: Oshada Fernando, Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Kasun Rajitha, Asitha Fernando, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara
Umpires: Michael Gough (ENG), Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)
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