New Zealand and Sri Lanka set to play six day Test Match with ‘Rest Day’ making its comeback

Sri Lankan Cricket Board has announced its schedule for the two-match Test series against New Zealand. The first game of the series will be played in Galle starting on 18th September and ending on 23rd September. The 4th day of the game which falls on 21st September has been announced as the ‘Rest Day’. 

The reason behind giving the ‘Rest Day’ is because Sri Lanka is set to hold its Presidential Elections on the said day. The last time that Sri Lanka saw a rest day was during the 2001 Test versus Zimbabwe. The game was played across six days as it coincided with Poya better known as Full Moon Day. 

Galle will play host to the second Test as well and it begins on the 26th of September and ends on the 30th. The two-match series is huge for both sides if they want to be in contention to make it to the World Test Championships finals. 

When was the last ‘Rest Day’ in Test match witnessed 

Rest Days were done and dusted in Test Cricket by the time the 1990s were coming to an end. The Dhaka Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2008 was the last time the longest format of the game saw a ‘Rest Day’. The game was played across six days due to parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. 

New Zealand will then travel to India to play the three-match Test series. The First Test is set to be played in Bengaluru between the 16th to 20th of October. The second game will be played in Pune from 24th to 28th October. 

The final game of the series will be played in Mumbai at the iconic Wankhede Stadium between the 1st to 5th of November. New Zealand had last toured India in late 2021 and lost the series 1-0. Ajaz Patel had taken a ten-wicket haul in a single innings during the Mumbai Test to become the third bowler to achieve the feat.