Sri Lanka wins the toss and bats first against New Zealand in the 2nd cricket test

 Sri Lanka won the toss Thursday and elected to bat first in the second cricket test as it chased a first series win over New Zealand in 15 years.

Sri Lanka made two changes from its 63-run win in the first test , also held in Galle, with all-rounder Milan Rathnayake coming in for fast bowler Lahiru Kumara and Nishan Peiris replacing Ramesh Mendis.

Peiris is making his test debut, while Ratnayake was recalled for his all-round abilities.

New Zealand retained an unchanged lineup as it bids to continue an unbeaten streak in the last six test series against Sri Lanka.

Since its last bilateral series victory against New Zealand in 2009, Sri Lanka has lost four and drawn two of the head-to-head tests series.

Following defeat in the first test, New Zealand slipped from third to fourth in the WTC rankings. A win in the second test would allow the Kiwis to reclaim the third spot.

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Lineups:

Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Nishan Peiris, Prabath Jayasuriya, Milan Rathnayake.

New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Wiliamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (captain), Ajaz Patel, Will O’Rourke.

Umpires: Nitin Menon, India, and Michael Gough, England.

Third Umpire: Ahsan Raza, Pakistan . Match Referee: Javagal Srinath, India.