New Zealand opt to bowl; Eshan Malinga debuts for SL

New Zealand opt to bowl vs Sri Lanka

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl first in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The substantial covering of grass on the pitch, which is likely to assist the seamers early, had prompted that decision from New Zealand’s new permanent white-ball captain Mitchell Santner.

Right-arm seamer Eshan Malinga, 23, debuts for Sri Lanka. Known for his rapid pace, Malinga has had good returns in domestic and A team cricket over the past year. He gets into the XI ahead of Mohamed Shiraz, also a right-arm seamer. With Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, and allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe also in the XI, Sri Lanka have plenty of seam-bowling options. There is room only for one specialist spinner however – Wanindu Hasaranga.

New Zealand, meanwhile, will miss Tom Latham, who is out with injury. They instead have Mitchell Hay keeping wickets. Their seam attack consists of Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke, Jacob Duffy, and allrounder Nathan Smith.

Though the toss was conducted under blue skies, the southerlies blowing through the ground mean it is a particularly cold morning in Wellington, with temperatures around 15 degrees celsius. Those winds are expected to be present through the course of the day, and will likely present challenges to the bowling team.

Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Kamindu Mendis, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt.), 6 Janith Liyanage, 7 Chamindu Wickramasinghe, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Lahiru Kumara, 10 Eshan Malinga, 11 Asitha Fernando

New Zealand: 1 Will Young, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Mark Chapman, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Mitchel Hay (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner (capt.), 8 Nathan Smith, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Will O’Rourke

Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf