SL vs. BAN Galle Test: Bangladesh elects to bat first

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat first against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the two-game series at the Galle International Cricket stadium.

The two-Test series is the first of the new World Test Championship cycle.

Sri Lanka today handed 31-year-old top-order batter Lahiru Udara and 29-year-old ambidextrous spinner Tharindu Rathnayake test debuts.

Accordingly, Udara and Rathnayake will become the 168th and 169th players to represent Sri Lanka in Test cricket.

Meanwhile, the Galle game is also the final Test match of former skipper Angelo Mathews who has announced his retirement from red-ball cricket.

The 38-year-old veteran has played 118 matches since making his debut in July, 2009 against Pakistan at the Galle International Cricket stadium.

He has scored 8,167 runs at an average of 44.62 while he has also claimed 33 test wickets during his 16-year-old career.

Meanwhile, at the toss, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said he would have batted first, while also paying tribute to ‘one of the greatest’ Angelo Mathews, who will be playing his final Test.

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto spoke of wanting to get the best of the batting conditions, and making use of the spinners in the fourth innings.

He however will not have the services of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, their highest run-getter of the last WTC cycle, owing to fever.

Teams:

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis (wk), Milan Ratnayake, Tharindu Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando

Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Anamul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Jaker Ali, Nayeem Hasan, Taijul Islam, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud