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Black Caps blunted by Sri Lanka late on opening day
Harry Potter • September 23rd, 2024 7:49 pm
Black Caps blunted by Sri Lanka late on opening day
All the action from the first test between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka.
If the Black Caps are to have any hope of reaching a second World Test Championship final, the outcome of the next five matches in Asia will have a huge say.
And in unfamiliar conditions where spin is going to dominate, the Black Caps have been astute in securing the services of Sri Lankan great Rangana Herath to help their cause.
After a career spent largely stuck behind Muttiah Muralitharan - test cricket’s all-time leading wicket-taker - Herath still managed to carve out his own legacy as a great of the game.
In 93 tests, the now 46-year-old took 433 wickets at an average of just over 28. Those numbers leave Herath 12th on test cricket’s list of wicket-takers, and the most prolific left-arm spinner.
Having been retired since 2018, Herath has turned his hand to coaching, and is now tasked with guiding the Black Caps’ slow bowlers for tests against his former side, and India.
In fact, given the conditions the Black Caps will face in Asia, no fewer than five spinners have been picked in the squad for the coming tests.
Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner will lead the bowlers as specialists, while Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and Michael Bracewell have been picked as all-rounders.
And given Phillips and Ravindra’s roles in the Black Caps’ batting unit, it’s not out of the question that the playing XI for the first test in Galle contains at least four spinners.
Having had the first test of the tour against Afghanistan in Greater Noida washed out last week, any work Herath has done with the Black Caps has been in the nets.
But with the first test against Sri Lanka starting at Galle on Wednesday, Herath already likes what he’s seen from the Kiwi tweakers.
