SL vs NZ, 1st Test: Why is there a rest day in the first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand?

At Stumps on Day 3, Sri Lanka remains 202 runs ahead, with six wickets in hand in its second innings. However, no cricket will be played in the contest on Saturday.

On the third day, Sri Lanka wrested control over the game after half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne (left) and Dinesh Chandimal (right). | Photo Credit: Viraj Kothalawala

The first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle will witness something that this format has not seen in the country for over two decades. The match will have a rest day.

On the third day, though Kiwi pacer Will O’Rourke impressed with the ball, taking three wickets for 37, the host side wrested control after half-centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal.

At Stumps on Day 3, Sri Lanka remains 202 runs ahead, with six wickets in hand in its second innings. However, no cricket will be played in the contest on Saturday, making it a six-day Test instead of a five-day affair.

Why is there a rest day in Sri Lanka vs New Zealand?

There is a rest day in between the Test match because Sri Lanka will have its presidential elections on September 21. So, the players of the host side will exercise their right to cast votes from their respective constituencies.

Sri Lanka is gearing up for its presidential election on September 21, a pivotal moment that will determine the nation’s political direction following the economic turmoil of 2022 that led to widespread protests and the ousting of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Has such a thing happened before?

Yes. In 2008, Bangladesh was scheduled to have its parliamentary elections on December 29, with the date falling in between the first test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from December 26 to 31, in Mirpur, Dhaka.

A woman voter raises her veil to enable a poll official to check her identity at a polling booth in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Security forces lined the streets Monday as Bangladesh voted in its first election in seven years, a much-anticipated poll that was to restore democracy to this troubled nation after two years of emergency rule. | Photo Credit: AP

As a result, the match paused after the third day, with a score of 291 for four at Stumps. It resumed on December 30, which was considered the fourth day, following a rest day before that.

Has such a thing happened in Sri Lanka before?

No. A rest day for elections is something that has not happened in a Test match in Sri Lanka so far. However, there was a rest day scheduled in Zimbabwe’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2001.

Sri Lankan batter Tilan Samaraweera hits for four during the second day of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Colombo. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

In the first Test in Colombo, scheduled between December 27 and January 1, 2002, there was a rest day on December 30, as it was Poya Day, a Buddhist religious holiday.

The Test, however, ended in four matchdays, with the sixth day not coming into the picture.