Sri Lanka Opt to Bat, Patel Debuts

Galle: Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat in the first cricket Test against England at the Galle International Stadium on Monday.

The tourists awarded a Test cap to all-rounder Samit Patel, who will bat in the middle-order and bowl left-arm spin, the third slow bowler in the ranks after Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar.

Patel was preferred over Ravi Bopara, who could have played only as a specialist batsman after a side strain ruled him out of bowling in the series.

Sri Lanka left out Chamara Silva, who hit 163 against the tourists in a practice match last week, to play young batsman Dinesh Chandimal.

Teams

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath.

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Samit Patel, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Graeme Swann.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Australia vs India - 1st Test West Indies vs Bangladesh - 1st Test Zimbabwe vs Pakistan - 1st ODI 2nd ODI - Zimbabwe v Pakistan - November 26, 07:30 GMT 1st Test - South Africa v Sri Lanka - November 27-01, 08:00 GMT 3rd ODI - Sri Lanka v New Zealand at Kandy No results 3rd T20I - Australia v Pakistan at Hobart Australia won by 7 wickets (with 52 balls remaining)

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