Sri Lanka vs. New Zealand - Match preview
Sri Lanka and New Zealand will face off in the fourth match of the tri-series at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium today.
Looking at the first set of league matches in the series featuring Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand, it is quite hard to anticipate how the second half of the tournament will turn out. Consistency has evaded all the three teams, with each taking a thrashing as well as handing one out. The side losing today’s match will be left in a must-win situation against India in the final league match.
The Black caps came into the tri-series as underdogs, but posted a warning by whipping India by 200 runs in the opener. As a result, on-paper strengths don’t really work as such on the field.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 captain Ross Taylor feels the extra rest will favour them against the exhausted Sri Lankans.
The top-order batting will be one of the main worries for New Zealand as the side has lost three top-order wickets quite cheaply in both matches of the tournament. It has put a lot of pressure on the middle-order batting. However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 has backed his struggling top order to perform well in Thursday’s game.
"The openers are there and it is a tough job when the ball does swing around. I am sure they are used to it and hopefully we can lose fewer wickets at the top and give ourselves a better chance through the middle."
Looking at the past three matches of the series, it becomes obvious that a disciplined bowling performance has been the common thread through each win. And in a man-to-man comparison, it seems that Sri Lanka have the upper hand in the bowling stakes over the Kiwis.
Though New Zealand’s bowling o is not that bad but with Daniel Vettori on leave and Shane Bond retired, a cushion of runs will be required to dismiss the strong Lankan batting line. It was New Zealand’s big score that helped them win against India in the series opener. So the responsibility would be on the batsmen of New Zealand if they want to have a better chance of thwarting the hosts. Martin Guptill is likely to get a good score and skipper Ross Taylor will have to lead his men from the front in exactly the same way like he did against India by logging 95 individual runs.
In the absence of Suraj Randiv, due to one-match suspension, a change in Sri Lanka’s spin department is expected. Sri Lanka might go in with both http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajantha-c42419 Mendis and Rangana Herath, while Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Kulasekara will fight it out to partner Lasith Malinga. Alternately, the hosts might go in with only one spinner by picking three pacers.
The match will be played at the Rangiri Dambulla track which has been used for previous matches. The track provides more seam under lights but at the same time, the swing declines as compared to the day. The 'win-toss-bat-first-win' myth has not worked effectively in the series as Sri Lanka and India has successfully chased targets. What both the skippers, Ross Taylor and Kumar Sangakkara, will look forward to is a better show from their batsmen than they have done in their previous matches respectively.
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