Bangladesh bats first in Galle as Sri Lanka’s Mathews plays his final test

By Canadian Press on June 16, 2025.

GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Bangladesh won the toss Tuesday and opted to bat in the first cricket test against Sri Lanka, expecting spin to play a major part as the game progresses.

The tourists had to leave out Mehidy Hasan Miraz because of a fever.

Sri Lanka gave debuts to spinner Tharindu Ratnayake and top-order batter Lahiru Udara in what will be Angelo Mathews’ 119th and last test match for his country. He is set to retire as Sri Lanka’s third-highest scorer in test cricket.

The match at Galle is the first in the 2025-2027 cycle of the World Test Championship, starting just days after South Africa won the title for the first time with a victory over defending champion Australia at Lord’s on the weekend.

Lineups:

Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kusal Mendis, Milan Ratnayake, Tharindu Ratnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya and Asitha Fernando.

Umpires: Alex Wharf, England, and Rod Tucker, Australia.

Third Umpire: Allahuddien Paleker, South Africa. Match Referee: Andy Pycroft, Zimbabwe.

___

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

The Associated Press