SL tour of NZ, Mar 9 - Apr 8

[mikesiva]

Wed, 08 Mar, 10:00 PM
1st Test, Christchurch, March 09 - 13, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Thu, 16 Mar, 10:00 PM
2nd Test, Wellington, March 17 - 21, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Sat, 25 Mar, 1:00 AM
1st ODI (D/N), Auckland, March 25, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Tues, 28 Mar, 2:00 AM
2nd ODI (D/N), Christchurch, March 28, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Fri, 31 Mar, 2:00 AM
3rd ODI (D/N), Hamilton, March 31, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Sun, 02 Apr, 1:00 AM
1st T20I, Auckland, April 02, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Wed, 05 Apr, 1:00 AM
2nd T20I, Dunedin, April 05, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Sat, 08 Apr, 1:00 AM
3rd T20I, Queenstown, April 08, 2023, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

[mikesiva]

Sri Lanka 355 all out

Mendis 87
Karu 50
Matthews 47
Dhananjaya 46

Southee 5-64
Henry 4-80

[mikesiva]

NZ 373 all out

Mitchell 102
Henry 72
Latham 67

Asitha 4-85
Kumara 3-76

[Arthur Crabtree]

Mitchell and Henry turning this around. Looks like it's tantalisingly poised thouh.

[mikesiva]

Sri Lanka 302 all out

Mathews 115
Dhananjaya 47
Chandimal 42

Tickner 4-100
Henry 3-71

Target 285

[Arthur Crabtree]

I guess SL will win, or NZ hold out. But you never know.

[Gingerfinch]

38 from 5 needed. NZ have to win this one!

[Arthur Crabtree]

Only just though. Cool Hand Kane is back.

[mikesiva]

NZ 285-8

Williamson 121*
Mitchell 81

Asitha 3-63

NZ win by two wickets.

[sussexpob]

Only just though. Cool Hand Kane is back.

Home pitches, crap bowling attack.... its where Kane excels.

For all said about Kane, his career record is mostly all padding.

Not great against the top teams, not great away, but give him BD, Zimbabwe, West Indies, or Sri Lanka on a feather bed at home, he delivers runs in bucket loads.

Not so great on any pitch that has a semblance of movement.

[Durhamfootman]

of course, this result confirms a WTC final for India

hard to believe that SL were in the running for the final given that they've hardly played any test matches. They beat WIndies at home 2-0, got hammered 2-0 in India, won 1-0 in BD, drew Aus and Pak at home 1-1 each, lost to NZ away

so for 11 tests in a 2 year cycle, 5 wins and a draw puts them in the running for the WTC final

by comparison, England drew a 5 test series with India 2-2, got mullered 4-0 away to Aus, got mugged 1-0 on 2 roads and a minefield in WIndies, beat the WTC champs NZ 3-0, beat SA 2-1, beat Pakistan 3-0 away and drew with NZ 1-1 away

24 tests with 11 wins and 2 draws gets them absolutely nowhere near the WTC final

definitely a strange state of affairs

[bigfluffylemon]

Only just though. Cool Hand Kane is back.

Home pitches, crap bowling attack.... its where Kane excels.

For all said about Kane, his career record is mostly all padding.

Not great against the top teams, not great away, but give him BD, Zimbabwe, West Indies, or Sri Lanka on a feather bed at home, he delivers runs in bucket loads.

Not so great on any pitch that has a semblance of movement.

To be fair, while it is definitely true that Kane's record v India, England is modest, especially away, there aren't that many players that are at their best away against India, Australia, England or South Africa compared with home vs crap bowling attacks. He's got a better away record against Australia than Root does...

[Arthur Crabtree]

Wild Doug Bracewell is back. Must be getting on a bit. Unfortunate to be around at the same time as a glut in Kiwi pace bowling. And his return maybe signifying the feast is over.

[Arthur Crabtree]

And Kane's back to battering minnows. Though three hours for his 78* is more blunting than battering.

[alfie]

Kane - and Henry Nicholls - certainly upped the rate as they went on. Both double hundreds and NZ were 580/4 off 123 when Southee called them in...pretty much Bazball.

Good little session for the NZ bowlers too , nabbing two for 26 in 17 overs. Doug Bracewell wasted no time in getting back into Test Cricket statistics with a wicket from his third ball...

Pitch is good enough for batting. But Sri Lanka are going to be under a lot of pressure tomorrow morning - weather permitting.

I guess Sri Lanka aren't all that - especially away from home. But given their fighting effort against England - and on the tour of Pakistan - it might be reasonable to think NZ may not have fallen apart quite as much as the rather dry run they've had since the WTC final in 2021 has suggested ? They will need some new seam bowlers soon , for sure. But their batting isn't looking too bad.