Asitha Fernando to Rahmat, no run, good length ball on off, Rahmat leans ahead, opens his bat-face and taps it to gully

Asitha Fernando to Rahmat, no run, oh, squared him up! Lands on a back of a length and seams away a touch. Rahmat looks to block but the ball lobs off his back thigh

Asitha Fernando to Rahmat, no run

Rahmat Shah, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Asitha Fernando to Ibrahim Zadran, out Lbw!! Brilliant start for Asitha Fernando and Sri Lanka! Ibrahim Zadran lbw b Asitha Fernando 0(2)

Asitha Fernando to Ibrahim Zadran, THATS OUT!! Lbw!!

Asitha Fernando to Ibrahim Zadran, no run

Ibrahim Zadran and Noor Ali are at the crease. Ibrahim Zadran is on strike. Asitha Fernando will open the attack

The players and the umpires make their way to the middle.

Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan captain: We wanted to bowl first but they have given us batting. We have a lot of good players. We have four debutants today, two of them are fast bowlers and one of them is left-arm bowler. We are excited and we are looking forward to it. It’s high to time show and express ourselves.

Dhananjaya de Silva | Sri Lanka captain: We are gonna bowl first as we are going in with three seamers.

Pitch Report | Farveez Maharoof: So much grass been left, it is unusual in Sri Lanka and there’s a good amount of moisture. The pitch is hard, the seamers will get assistance first up. Overall, this pitch will hold for three days for batting and the spinners will come into play.

Teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Nasir Jamal, Ikram Alikhil(w), Qais Ahmad, Zia-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Naveed Zadran, Nijat Masood

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Sadeera Samarawickrama(w), Chamika Gunasekara, Prabath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando

Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to field

Meanwhile, it’s the beginning of a new dawn for Sri Lanka in terms of captaincy. Karunaratne had asked to step down from captaincy after the last World Test Championship cycle. The selectors wanted him to continue for one more year but have now finally let him go. Dhananjaya de Silva has been handed the responsibility to lead Sri Lanka. The hosts have a good mix of experience and youth. There’s variety in bowling and the batting unit wears a solid look. Sri Lanka lost 2-0 against Pakistan at home in their last Test series. But, expect them to come hard at the visitors. It promises to be a cracking contest! Stick around for the toss and team lineups…

09:00 Local Time, 03:30 GMT, 09:00 IST: Hello and a warm welcome to our live coverage of Day 1 of the Only Test between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Colombo. These two teams will face each other for the first time in Test cricket which will make for some fascinating viewing. Afghanistan have only played seven Tests in their history. It will certainly be a big challenge for the visitors but their resilience might help them to stand tall against the odds. There’s no Rashid Khan as he is still recovering from his back surgery. The other bowlers need to rise to the occasion. Afghanistan’s skipper, Shahidi has been solid with the bat in the longest format and he would be eager to lead from the front. The likes of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah have tasted success in the shorter formats against Sri Lanka. Perhaps, the visitors can make an impact with the bat.

Squads:

Afghanistan Squad: Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Nasir Jamal, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Ishaq, Baheer Shah, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Naveed Zadran, Qais Ahmad, Nijat Masood, Zahir Khan, Zia-ur-Rehman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Noor Ali Zadran