New Zealand to tour Sri Lanka after World Cup

COLOMBO: New Zealand will tour Sri Lanka after the ongoing World Cup and play two Tests and three Twenty20 matches starting early next month, the island nation's cricket board said Friday.

The visitors will also be the first foreign sporting team to tour Sri Lanka after the Easter Sunday suicide attacks that killed 258 people, including 45 foreign nationals.

Local Islamic radicals hit three churches and three hotels on April 21. Since then, Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency which gives sweeping powers to police and troops to arrest and detain suspects.

The first Test between New Zealand and their hosts will begin on August 14 in Galle while the final Test match will be played in Colombo's P. Sara stadium from August 22, Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

The first two T20 games will be in Colombo on August 31 and September 2 at the Premadasa Stadium while the final match will be on September 6 in Kandy.