Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in the second Test match of the ongoing series. The match will be played on 26th September at Galle.
Match preview:
The upcoming Test will be going to be an exciting one as Sri Lanka will look forward to clinching the series while New Zealand will be hoping to make a comeback and end the ongoing series in a draw.
Talking about New Zealand, the side lost yet another chance to win an away Test series in 2019. It wasn’t like New Zealand couldn’t win the first Test or they were completely outclassed by the host side. But it was because of being “unlucky” at times and “gifting away” wickets such instance, the key wicket of Kane Williamson.
When in the first innings Sri Lanka put a great total of 305 by the virtue of Kamindu Mendis, New Zealand retalited back scoring 340 runs in response. Tom Latham, Williamson, and Mitchell plundered half-century and showed defiance against in-form Sri Lankan bowlers.
However they could not replicate the same audacity in the second innings of the game, both Latham and Williamson fell cheaply while Mitchell could not create an impact either.
Nevertheless, there was one silver lining for the Black Caps in the name of Rachin Ravindra who scored a crucial knock of 92 runs. Although this knock wasn’t enough to guide his side to the victory as he had got zero support from the other end too, if anything, it showed Rachin is finding his feet in the Test format after cementing his authority in the white-ball cricket.
And the worrying factor would be the form and performance of Tim Southee. The skipper could only take one wicket in the first Test match. New Zealand will be hoping that the pacer gets his groove back in the all-important second Test match of the series.
Talking about Sri Lanka, they continued the momentum they picked up from the last Test match against England and Kamindu Mendis did not fail to impress again. His crucial ton played a role in Sri Lanka’s victory and the side will be hoping to see more performances like this. The big breaking and great news for Sri Lanka is the comeback of Prabth Jayasuriya as he took 9 wickets in the Test match and earned a well-deserved man of the match award.
Dimuth and Chandimal also played crucial knocks in the second innings of the game. Sri Lanka will be hoping to keep up these performances and win the Test match series.
Pitch and weather report:
As usual a spinning track would be expected in Galle. As the match progresses it will be tougher to bat on. So, a team who will win the toss will look forward to bat first.
Predictions:
Sri Lanka are hot-favorite to win the second Test match of the series.
Head-to-head record:
Sri Lanka and New Zealand have played 39 Test matches so far and the former have won 10 while the latter stood victorious in 18 matches.
Where to watch:
Pakistan: Tapmad
India: SonyLiv and Fan Code app
New Zealand: SKY Sport.
UK: TNT Sports 1
Others: CricHD
