Washout leaves batsmen short
New Zealand’s batsmen will go in cold – figuratively speaking – to their first test since March at one of world cricket’s most spin-friendly venues.
Two days of rain at Katunayake, north of Colombo, cut short their solitary warmup match against a Sri Lankan Board President’s XI at just 65.5 overs on Saturday.
All of them were wheeled down by the Black Caps bowlers, with spinner Ajaz Patel (5-41 off 10) the only one to make a compelling statement before the first test on Wednesday (4.30pm NZT). The hosts posted 323-6, with Will Somerville (1-70 off 13.5 overs) the only other of the eight New Zealand bowlers to have success.
The batsmen, meanwhile, will arrive in Galle with two net sessions to prepare them at a venue which hasn’t produced a drawn test since 2013. The last seven at Galle International Stadium have been won by the side batting first, stretching back to India’s 63-run victory over Sri Lanka in August 2015.
England won the most recent test at the picturesque ground in November, when captain Joe Root called correctly, they posted 342 in their first innings and spin trio Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Adil Rashid took 16 Sri Lankan wickets between them to get them home by 211 runs.
Assuming similar conditions, New Zealand will pick three spinners and the pressure will be on captain Kane Williamson to call correctly at the toss to give himself and fellow batsmen the best chance.
Asked his assessment of their ‘warmup’, Williamson quipped: ‘‘What match? There was a huge amount of rain, we bowled 60 overs and that was basically it. It was nice to get outside for a little bit, but not too much to report.’’
It meant an indoor session for the 15-man tour squad before their two-hour bus trip south to Galle.
‘‘We’re just trying to get in whatever sort of training we can in buildup to the first match. Mother Nature is not playing her part,’’ Williamson said.
Williamson and coach Gary Stead will inspect the pitch at Galle before nailing down their XI for the two-test series opener, with the biggest question whether they do indeed play three spinners which means Neil Wagner and Tim Southee both likely miss out.
Assuming the surface is bereft of grass and looks like it will turn, Trent Boult and allrounder Colin de Grandhomme could be the only seamers and one of Mitchell Santner, Todd Astle, Patel and Somerville will carry the drinks.
Legspinner Astle and offspinner Somerville look likely starters given their respective points of difference, and Patel put a strong case in the warmup to edge out Santner who hasn’t played a test since December 2017.
Stead, speaking on arrival last week, hinted the dominance of the now-retired leftarmer Rangana Herath on Sri Lankan pitches helped Patel’s cause.
‘‘They’re different bowlers, and different in height. Mitch probably creates more bounce and sometimes that can be an advantage and in these conditions sometimes a disadvantage.
‘‘You want the stumps in play as often as you can and look at the success of [Rangana] Herath who took a lot of wickets over a long period here,’’ Stead said.