SL vs NZ, Hambantota Starts at 02:30 PM IST (09:00 GMT), Nov 10 A depleted New Zealand side would kick- start their limited overs tour of Sri Lanka with a three-match ODI series which gets underway in the south-eastern Sri Lankan port town of Hambantota. The visitors would like to make amends for their disastrous series in Bangladesh where they were handed a 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series and could only manage a solitary consolation win in the one-off T20I that concluded that tour. Sri Lanka Sri Lanka boast of a strong batting line-up which will again revolve around the veterans - Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The southpaw is the leading run-getter for Sri Lanka in 2013 and the sixth highest overall. He aggregates a staggering 883 runs in 15 ODI innings in the calendar year and his average of 73.58 is the best amongst all players who have at least scored 500 runs in the year. There will be a toss up for one of the openers slot between Dimuth Karunaratne race and Kusal Perera and the former might just win the race with more consistent performances in the domestic competitions. Tillakaratne Dilshan would look to provide the impetus at the top of the order. Sri Lankas spinners, Ajantha Mendis and Sachithra Senanayake will tend to pose a few questions for the New Zealand batsmen. Both possess a number of variations and the Black Caps are historically not known to be the greatest players of quality spin bowling. Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara form a formidable fast bowling pair and they will look for able support from Thisara Perara should he make the playing eleven. New Zealand Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor were rested from the tour to give them time to prepare for the home series against the West Indies. An already depleted New Zealand side, received a further blow when, Kane Williamson, slated to replace McCullum to lead the team, suffered a thumb fracture and had to take the flight back home from Bangladesh. The absence of the experienced and talented batting trio would provide an opportunity for the young guns - the likes of Hamish Rutherford, Colin Munro and Corey Anderson to show their prowess and cement a place in the eleven. However, it is their bowling on which New Zealand will heavily rely to make inroads and dents in the powerful Lankan line-up. Kyle Mills, the skipper, will lead the pace attack along with Adam Milne. All- rounders, Nathan McCullum and James Neesham will bolster the lower-middle order as well as empower the captain with varied bowling options. Pitch and Conditions A threat by rain looms large for most part of the match on Sunday. The wicket at Hambantota has traditionally offered some assistance to the seamers. Strong winds will blow across the stadium in the evenings. Quotes The youngsters are good fighters, and they may have a chance, but the main thing is that we win this thee match series, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews. I think we have one of the most exciting cricket teams to leave New Zealands shores, New Zealands stand-in captain Kyle Mills. Teams: Sri Lanka (From): Angelo Mathews(c), Kumar Sangakkara(w), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Kushal Janith Perera, Ashan Priyanjan, Sachithra Senanayake, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Rangana Herath New Zealand (From): Kyle Mills(c), Luke Ronchi (w), Neil Broom, Anton Devcich, Andrew Ellis, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson, Ian Butler, Grant Elliott, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Rob Nicol admin:#Shashi
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 02:39:16 +0000
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