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New Zealand will host Sri Lanka for two Test matches in March 2023. Here is the schedule for the New Zealand v Sri Lanka Test series.
Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand will feature two Test matches, three ODIs, and three T20Is, between March 9 and April 8, 2023. The Tests will be played in Christchurch and Wellington.
Plenty is at stake in the series. Australia might have qualified for the World Test Championship 2021-23 final, at The Oval, but Sri Lanka still have a chance of going through at India’s expense. For that, they need to win this series 2-0 and hope Australia do not lose to India in Ahmedabad.
New Zealand lost the first Test match of their recent series, against England, and followed on in the second Test. In a remarkable turnaround, they became only the fourth team in history to win a Test match after following on, and the second to win by a one-run margin.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have not played a Test match since their back-to-back 1-1 draws at home last summer, against Australia and Pakistan. Before that, in their last overseas tour, they won 2-0 in Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka have toured New Zealand seven times, between 1982/83 and 2018/19. In 1994/95, Chaminda Vaas took 10-90 as well as scored 33 not out and 36 to help them win the Napier Test match, their first win in the country.
A draw in Dunedin helped Sri Lanka win that series 1-0. It was the first time they won a Test series away from home. Since then, they have won only once more there, at Wellington in 2005/06, when Muttiah Muralitharan claimed 10-118 and Chamara Silva got 61 and 152 not out.
New Zealand v Sri Lanka Test series 2022/23 schedule:
First Test: March 9-13, Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Second Test: March 17-21, Basin Reserve, Wellington
