Courtesy: Google
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have announced that the opening Test of the two-match series against New Zealand in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship next month in Galle will last for six days. The rest day will make its return to Test cricket in Sri Lanka in more than 20 years due to a political election in the country.
The first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand is slated to commence on September 18 at the Galle International Stadium. The rest day is set for September 21 because of “the Presidential Election of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,” the ICC wrote on their website.
This will be the first Test match in Sri Lanka to have a rest day since 2001. The last time a Test was slated to be played in the island nation across six days was against Zimbabwe in Colombo due to no play on the Poya Day.
Moreover, the last time a Test match got played across six days was in 2008 in Dhaka when Bangladesh hosted Sri Lanka. It went down due to a parliamentary election in the country on December 29 nearly 16 years ago.
Sri Lanka versus New Zealand Two-Test match series schedule:
First Test: September 18-23, Galle
Second Test: September 26-30, Galle
