http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 vs New Zealand – 5th ODI – The home team in trouble as rain intervenes
For a change in the on-going five-match One Day International (ODI) series, New Zealand are in a dominating position in the first innings of the last encounter at Hambantota, as the play has been halted by rain. The home team were struggling
with just 123 runs on the board for the loss of eight wickets in 28.3 overs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849 won an important toss, in his pursuit to avoid a whitewash, and had no hesitation in opting to bowl first. The decision turned out to be the right one as the Kiwi fast bowlers delivered the goods upfront, with Tim Southee
dismissing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LD-Chandimal-c1831 in his very first over.
The home team, having already sealed the series, tinkered with the batting-order, promoting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AD-Mathews-c913 up the order. The duo however, failed to make an impression and was sent back to the dressing room without
much of a contribution.
The Lankans at one stage had lost four wickets for just 44 runs on the board, before http://www.senore.com/Cricket/WU-Tharanga-c2802 accumulated 47 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership, bringing some respite for the home crowd. However, the skipper
committed suicide as he was run out by a brilliant direct-hit by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/NL-McCullum-c2120.
Tharanga remained the pick of the batsmen for the home team, scoring 60 runs off 94 balls, with the help of eight boundaries, before being caught-behind off http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TG-Southee-c2659, minutes before the rain interruption. Jayawardene and Thirimanne
scored 24 and 17 runs respectively.
Southee has so far been the best http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 bowler in the match, grabbing three scalps, having conceded merely 18 runs in 5.3 overs. Adam Milne, the young talented speedster, also impressed with his extra pace and picked up the prize-victim
of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779.
With tail-enders at the crease, the Lankan fans are not expecting their team to post a competitive total on the board. However, the visitors have not been at their best in the series, which should give a ray of hope to Jayawardene and
company, who would love to remain unbeaten in the limited-over battle before the two-match Test series, which begins from November 17.
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