Hesson laments rain after second ODI loss – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mike-J-Hesson-c76286, lamented rain after watching his side suffer a frustrating 14-run, Duckworth-Lewis defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the second ODI at Pallekele last night.
The monsoon season has already caused plenty of problems for both camps following rain-affected affairs in the past week. The Only T20I was abandoned after 16 overs, while the opening ODI was totally washed out, without a bowl being bowled.
The SLC decided to shift the second and third ODI to Pallekele, from the slated Colombo venue, but that even did not stop bad weather to play a key part last night. After electing to bat first, the tourists posted a healthy 250 on the board on an extremely
dry pitch.
The Kiwis started slowly, and lost Tom Latham to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849 to make the most of the new playing
conditions, and the Kiwi skipper’s invaluable hand of 72 ensured that his side posted a more than competitive total.
The Lankan’s chase was swift to say the least as they kept scoring at more than five runs per over, despite losing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691 still carried the momentum forward
with a quick 59-run stand, which ensured that the hosts always remained ahead of the projected D/L score. Dilshan fell in the 19th over to leave the encounter evenly poised, only for rain to ruin the proceedings once and for all.
Hesson was indeed left frustrated by the outcome, and said that his team felt confident of halting the hosts after they had taken out two out of their three key players.
"250 was above par," New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said afterwards. "It is the highest score New Zealand have got against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in Sri Lanka, and I think a par score would have been 230 or 240. BJ Watling and Rob Nicol played really nicely for us after
losing a wicket early, and with the ball swinging for about 20 to 23 overs, they hung in there really well and set the game up for us."
"Sri Lanka are pretty top heavy. We got rid of two out of three of their big guns in the first 20 overs so we were pretty confident we were going to have a good crack at it," Hesson said.
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