Tall order for Sri Lanka to win back to back Tests in NZ

Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis are the only two spinners in a seam-laden squad

•  To qualify for World Test Championship final at the Oval

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The Sri Lanka Test team captained by Dimuth Karunaratne left for New Zealand last night with a lot of optimism of winning the two Test matches and qualifying for a place in the final of the ICC World Test Championship scheduled to take place at the Oval in London from 7 June.

The task ahead of Sri Lanka is a tall one. In 10 previous tours to New Zealand, they have won a Test series only once in 1994-95 (1-0, 1 drawn), and the last occasion New Zealand lost back to back Tests at home was way back in 2015-16 to Australia 2-0.

The other factor which could go against Karunaratne’s team is the paucity of Test matches they have played so far. Sri Lanka has not played any Test matches for the past seven months and by the time the Test series against New Zealand commences next month it will be eight months without any Test cricket. That is quite a big gap for any country and it is asking a lot from the Test players to suddenly come out of a deep slumber and perform at optimum.

Since the last Test series against Pakistan ended in July, there have been three red ball tournaments – Inter-Club 3-day Major League and the ongoing National Super League 4-day, and the two 4-day unofficial Tests against England Lions.

Kusal Mendis has not appeared in any of these three series which means he has not played any red ball cricket since July, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Kumara and Chamika Karunaratne has played just one match apiece, and the rest: Dhananjaya de Silva (2 matches), Dinesh Chandimal (3), Niroshan Dickwella and Kasun Rajitha (4 each), Angelo Mathews (5), Asitha Fernando (7), Vishwa Fernando and Milan Ratnayake (9 each), Kamindu Mendis (10), Oshada Fernando (11), Nishan Madushka (12), Ramesh Mendis (13) and Prabath Jayasuriya (14).

Sri Lanka’s only warm-up match in New Zealand is a two-day affair at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on 4 and 5 March. It is also the venue for the first Test commencing on 9 March. The second Test is scheduled to take place at Basin Reserve, Wellington from 17 March.

For Sri Lanka to qualify for the World Test Championship final they must beat New Zealand in both Tests so that they will end up with a win percentage of 61.11. At the same time they will hope that the India-Australia series doesn’t end up 3-1 or 3-0. In those two cases both India and Australia will finish on a higher percentage than Sri Lanka, even if they win both Tests in New Zealand. The other scenario is if India win fewer than three Tests, Australia and Sri Lanka will qualify, and if India win 4-0, India and Sri Lanka will qualify.

Sri Lanka currently sit in third place with a win percentage of 53.33. Australia continue to head the table with 66.67 with India second on 64.06. The result of the first Test at Christchurch will decide the fate of Sri Lanka whether they are in or out of the WTC final.

One thing that Sri Lanka can take some confidence going into the Test series is that New Zealand has not won a series at home since beating Pakistan 2-0 in 2020-21. They have been held to 1-1 draws by both Bangladesh and South Africa and in the current series against England, New Zealand trail the two-Test series 0-1.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne believes that he has the bowlers to win a Test match if the batsmen can put sufficient runs on the board. But the long gap between Tests is certain to have an impact on the batsmen towards spending time in the middle and building a foundation for a good total even though eight of the players in the current squad figured in the last Test series in New Zealand five years ago. 

Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando and Kasun Rajitha will be the principal fast bowlers