Australia bat in 1st Sri Lanka Test

14 December 2012 12:36 am

(Reuters) - Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to bat first in the first of three tests against Sri Lanka at the Bellerive Oval on Friday.

Australia have brought in lefthanded batsman Phil Hughes to replace Ricky Ponting, who retired from international cricket after the 309-run defeat to South Africa two weeks ago.

Dimuth Karunaratne will open the batting for Sri Lanka with Tillakaratne Dilshan in his second test after scoring a half century on debut against New Zealand last month.

The series concludes with tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

Teams:

Australia: Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phil Hughes, Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Lyon.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chanaka Welegedera, Shaminda Eranga, Rangana Herath.