The first T20 match of the Sri Lanka team's tour of New Zealand is scheduled to be held tomorrow (28th) at the Bay Oval International Cricket Stadium in Mount Manganui. The match will start tomorrow at 11.30 am Sri Lanka time.

Since it was the first match of the 3-match T20 series, both teams must have tried to win the match and achieve a successful start to the tournament.
However, this is also Mitchell Santner's first limited-overs cricket series after becoming the regular captain of New Zealand ODIs and T20Is. Also, rookie batsman Bevan Jacobs was called to the New Zealand squad for the T20 series.Also, in the training matches held with Sri Lanka, he performed well in batting and it seems that he will be a headache for Sri Lanka in this tournament.
In addition, Darryl Mitchell and Matt Henry, who did not join the Sri Lanka ODI and T20 tour, have been called to the New Zealand squad. No matter what the circumstances, New Zealand's challenge to any opponent at home cannot be underestimated.In the same way, New Zealand was able to end the T20 series with a 1-1 draw in spinner-friendly Sri Lanka last November. Therefore, they will enter tomorrow's T20 tournament with a very high mentality.
Accordingly, Vanindu Hasaranga and Mahish Thiekshana will be given more responsibility in this tournament. That is because they are the two most experienced and most advanced bowlers that Sri Lanka has in the T20 format.However, in the last few T20 matches, it seemed that Sri Lanka's start was not very successful. Pathum Nissanka has not been in his usual rhythm in the last few T20 matches. However, Pathum was able to achieve some success in the second training match recently.
Accordingly, Pathum Nissanka's success in this T20 series is likely to be a decisive factor for Sri Lanka.
However, since the Bay Oval pitch is more supportive of fast bowlers, there is more chance of calling the rookie all-rounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe as an additional fast bowler for this match.
The first match of the 3-match Sri Lanka-New Zealand T20 series will start tomorrow and the second match will be held on the 30th at the Bay Oval Stadium. The third Twenty20 match is scheduled to be held on January 2 in Nelson.
So far 25 Twenty20 international cricket matches have been played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. 14 matches have been won by New Zealand and 10 by Sri Lanka. One match has ended without a result.
The last time Sri Lanka played in New Zealand for a T20 series was in 2015/16. Even in that series, New Zealand had won 2-0 matches.