New Zealand men’s Test players donned black armbands on the first day of the match in Galle on Thursday, September 26, to honour Ian Taylor, who recently passed away. He held multiple positions within New Zealand Cricket (NZC).
A statement from the Blackcaps noted that Taylor was a former board director for NZC, manager of the Kiwi men’s team, and chair of Cricket Wellington.
“The Test team is wearing black arm-bands on day 1 of the 2nd Test in Galle to honour the passing of former BLACKCAPS manager, NZC director & Cricket Wellington chair Ian Taylor #SLvNZ,” the statement on X read.
The Test team is wearing black arm-bands on day 1 of the 2nd Test in Galle to honour the passing of former BLACKCAPS manager, NZC director & Cricket Wellington chair Ian Taylor #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/LX2wfyabTZ
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) September 26, 2024
Black armbands are a common practice in cricket and other sports to pay tribute to recently deceased athletes, staff, sports figures, or national icons.
Sri Lanka chose to bat first; what did the captains have to say?
Sri Lanka is ahead in the two-match Test series following a convincing victory in the first match at the same venue. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva won his fifth consecutive toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that appeared to become more challenging as the game went on.
“We are going to bat first. This pitch looks firmer than the last one. More grass but flatter. (On debutant Nishan Peris) He is doing well in domestics, he’s tall and gets good bounce. The team is feeling good,” de Silva said at the toss.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee, speaking after him, further added:
“You come to this part of the world and want to bat first but we got a good chance in the last Test. We back the guys to improve on last week’s performance. We want to improve in all areas and because the last Test was the first in a while, find some consistency.”
Southee made an impact in the first over by dismissing Pathum Nissanka.
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