assalamoalikum :jhanda:
(BBC SPORT | Cricket | Kiwis adapt to Colombo heat)
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Fleming (right) marshalled his troops through two sapping sessions.
New Zealand are facing a race against time to acclimatise ahead of next week’s first Test in Sri Lanka.
They held their first practice sessions in Colombo on Thursday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and captain Stephen Fleming admitted: "It really is very hot.
“We are trying to get accustomed as fast as possible.”
During April, the humidity level in Colombo can reach 90 percent, with temperatures of 35 degree Celsius.
The team’s arrival was good news for local cricket officials, who feared concerns over severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, would prompt them to cancel the tour.
The virus has killed more than 162 people, mostly in Asia, though Sri Lanka has not reported any cases.
“We have taken all possible precautions,” Fleming said, adding all the players wore masks at Singapore’s international airport when in transit there.
New Zealand abandoned tours to Sri Lanka in 1987 and 1992 due to bomb attacks in Colombo by Tamil Tiger rebels.
There is now a truce in place between the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam and the Sri Lankan government.
“Things have changed here,” Fleming said of the absence of soldiers on Colombo’s streets.
“There is a real change in atmosphere. It is very noticeable.”
The Colombo match will be followed by the second and final Test in Kandy from 3 May.
New Zealand will then take part in a triangular one-day series involving Sri Lanka and Pakistan, starting on 10 May and ending on 23 May.