Sri Lanka has re-added Dilshan Madushanka to their squad while Jeffrey Vandersay has replaced the injured Wanindu Hasaranga in the lineup.
The second one day between Colombo and New Zealand in Dambulla witnessed Charith Asalanka win the toss and decided to bat first. He fully anticipated that the pitch would deteriorate further as the match continued. New Zealand’s Mitchell Santer was also nonchalant about chasing as it had started raining in the evening which didn’t help the bowlers much at all.
Many debutants have been put in New Zealand’s XI. They are cap players in Tim Robinson’s opening and Mitchell Hay’s winding up in the ODI format, who each made it in T20IS just last weekend. It is the first competition in any nation and Nathan Smith’s true colours are finally showing in the form of a 26-year-old seam bowler and all-rounder.
Also, Adam Milne was unable to be selected as he recently traveled to the country and replaced a struggling Lockie Ferguson. He himself arrived here on Tuesday night so it was essentially impossible for him to have been available for selection. Other seamers include Jacob Duffy along with Ish Sodhi, Santner and Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips suggests adding spin options soon expecting the track to take some time to change perspective.
Left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka has been recalled by Sri Lanka. They have also lost Wanindu Hasaranga to injury. Jeffret Vandersay has replaced him in the XI. There is also an abundance of bowling from the top seven. Asalanka, Kamindu Mendis, and Janith Liyanage can all bowl a few overs.
Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Kamindu Mendis, 7 Janith Liyanage, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Jeffrey Vandersay, 10 Dilshan Madushanka, 11 Asitha Fernando
New Zealand: 1 Tim Robinson, 2 Will Young, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Mark Chapman, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Mitchell Hay (wk), 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Nathan Smith, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Jacob Duffy