Sri Lanka struggled without the spinner to defeat in the first Test
Herath praticisng during the ODI series against England earlier this month.
Rangana Herath is set to return from injury for Sri Lanka in the second and final Test of their series in New Zealand.
It would be a welcome boost for the visitors – Herath having recovered from the hamstring tear he picked up last month – after a heavy defeat in the first Test and needing a win in Wellington to tie the series.
Without the left-arm spinner, New Zealand laid waste to the Sri Lanka attack in Christchurch – scoring 441 at over five runs an over in their first innings – with Brendon McCullum blasting 195 from just 134 balls.
He and the rest of the New Zealand batsmen are unlikely to relish the return of Herath as he averages 19.58 against them in his previous four Tests against the Black Caps.
Sri Lanka’s attack is likely to be further assisted by a green pitch at the Basin Reserve with reports of close to an inch of grass, making the square almost indistinguishable from the rest of the field.
But even with the extra assistance, Sri Lanka will have a tough task overcoming a confident New Zealand team led by a captain in the form of his life.
McCullum has guided his team to Test series wins at home to India and in West Indies in 2014, and has personally posted scores of 224, 302, 202 and 195 across his nine Tests in the year, becoming the first New Zealander to pass 1,000 runs in a calendar year.
He wowed again with the bat during the first Test, plundering the Sri Lanka attack for 18 fours and 11 sixes in his knock before falling five runs short of what would have been the fastest Test double-hundred in history.
New Zealand (from): Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wkt), Kane Williamson.
Sri Lanka (from): Angelo Mathews (captain), Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep, Rangana Herath, Prasanna Jayawardene (wkt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Tharindu Kaushal, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Kumar Sangakkara, Kaushal Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne.
Watch the second and final Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on Sky Sports 1 from 9.30pm from Friday.
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