Sri Lanka v New Zealand: Test cricket betting preview, team news & free tips

First Test
5.30am Wednesday

New Zealand are narrow favourites to win the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle but the home batting line-up looks more robust after former captains Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews were recalled to the Test squad.

Both batsmen missed the Lankans' astonishing 2-0 series victory in South Africa in February but Mathews had played a starring role in the 1-0 defeat in New Zealand in December 2018.

The experienced middle-order batsman scored 258 runs and was dismissed only once against the Black Caps and he showed his quality at the World Cup, scoring a match-winning 85 not out against England and signing off his campaign with a century against India.

The runs continued to flow from Mathews' bat in July's one-day series against Bangladesh, with scores of 48, 52 not out and 87, and he has a solid Test record in Galle, where he averages just under 47 in 17 matches.

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Team news
Sri Lanka
Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews return to bolster the batting. The 15-man squad includes spinners Dhananjaya de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Embuldeniya and Lakshan Sandakan.

New Zealand
Spinners Will Somerville, Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner and Todd Astle are jostling for places in the Kiwi 11 for Galle.

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