New Zealand chooses to bowl first

On the first day of the first Test against New Zealand, Kusal Mendis slammed a half-century off just 40 balls to help Sri Lanka reach 1-120 at lunch. At the half, Mendis and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (33 no) were both undefeated on 73. Tim Southee, the captain of New Zealand, said the Hagley Oval surface had a "green tint" and that his team chose to toss and send Sri Lanka in. A fourth seamer helped New Zealand's assault, but the ground and the cloudy skies did not offer Southee the assistance he was hoping for when he took the new ball.

There was a little swing, and three early lbw claims for New Zealand were denied. After the first hour, Sri Lanka made poor progress to 1-27, so they gave up on reviewing the first after failing to do so. The only guy out was opener Oshada Fernando (13), who was possibly struck by the morning's hardest ball.