Sri Lanka's Prasad ruled out of New Zealand series

Sri Lanka will be without Dhammika Prasad for their tour of New Zealand after he suffered a back injury during their tour match with a New Zealand Board President's XI.

The left-arm seamer only bowled four overs in the drawn match in Queenstown and his absence will be a significant loss to Angelo Mathews' bowling attack.

Prasad will return to Sri Lanka for treatment on the injury, and has been replaced by Vishwa Fernando in the 18-man squad.

The 24-year-old quick has yet to make his international bow despite being included in previous squads to face India, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates.

Fernando was the second-highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka A during two unofficial Test against New Zealand A in October with five wickets in two matches.

Sri Lanka face two Test matches against the Black Caps in the coming weeks, before five one-day internationals and two Twenty20s.