Toss Sri Lanka won the toss and will bat first against Australia
Connolly is wicketless from 96 deliveries in four first-class matches, but he adds another left-arm orthodox option alongside Matthew Kuhnemann on a surface set to spin sharply from the get go. The pitch for this match is different from the slow surface used in the first Test.
Allrounder Beau Webster, who can bowl seam and offspin, has kept his spot and Australia’s batting depth has strengthened with Connolly, who averages 61.80 in his fledgling first-class career, listed at No. 8.
Even though their chances of regaining the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy are over, Sri Lanka hope for a strong bounce back from their biggest ever defeat in Test cricket and they’ve made three changes.
Once again the players will be confronted by stifling humidity, but clear conditions are expected through the match after stormy weather affected parts of the first Test.
Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Nishan Peiris, 11 Lahiru Kumara
Australia: 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Beau Webster, 8 Cooper Connolly, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Matthew Kuhnemann, 11 Nathan Lyon
