Sri Lanka have announced their starting XI for the second Test match against England at Lord’s, which begins on August 28. They lost the first Test match in Manchester.

Kusal Mendis has been ruled out of the second Test at Lord’s along with pacer Vishwa Fernando. Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Kumara have been included in the starting XI.

The rest of the squad remains the same, with Sri Lanka opting to use two pace specialists and spinners with Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis as backup bowling options.

Sri Lanka lost the first Test match against England as they failed to fight back from 205 in the second innings. Their bowlers kept them in the game throughout the match, bowling England out for 358 in the first innings and putting them in a tight spot in the second innings as well.

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Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, ahead of the second Test, have decided to leave out Kusal Mendia and include Nishan Madushka. He is a young wicketkeeper-batsman who also has a good technique. On the other hand, Lahiru Kumara has replaced Vishwa Fernando in the XI as the left-arm pacer has been replaced by a right-arm pacer. Meanwhile, Dinesh Chamdinal has recovered from a thumb injury to retain his place in the XI.

Lord’s presents one of the best batting conditions for the visiting team and hence Sri Lanka should look to make the most of it. The pitch has an even pace and bounce that allows the batsmen to score more runs if they are willing to counter the initial threat of the opposition bowlers.

Heading into the second Test match, Sri Lanka are fifth in the WTC table and are in dire need of points to move up the table. They last won a Test match in April against Bangladesh and are missing a win to remain relevant in the race to the final.

This will be Sri Lanka’s ninth Test match at Lord’s, the most at any venue after Harare in Zimbabwe. They have played at least that many Test matches at six home venues, with SSC in Colombo topping the list with 45. Interestingly, Sri Lanka have never won a Test match at Lord’s and have a chance to change the script in the second Test match.

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva has spoken highly of Pathum Nissanka, who has been included in the second Test in place of Kusal Mendis. Nissanka has been Sri Lanka’s leading run-scorer in white-ball cricket since his international debut and is now looking forward to carrying that form over to red-ball cricket.

“Overall, Pathum is the best batsman in the country right now. He has a good mentality and good technique. If we can get him into the team, it will be great. I have been talking about it for a while. I think he will adapt to any format,” De Silva said on Nissanka.

Sri Lanka’s starting XI for Lord’s Test

Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva (C), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake

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