Sri Lanka end their tour of New Zealand on Friday when they head to Auckland to take part in a sole T20 international, which represents the last chance for them to pick up a victory before they depart for Australia.
New Zealand have India arriving soon and that has been reflected in the squad they have named for this match but there could be places in squads in the future on the line for those coming in so we should get a good game of cricket.
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New Zealand
We have seen throughout this summer so far that the New Zealand batting has been in excellent form and now they arrive at the highest scoring ground in the country so all eyes will be on them to see what sort of fireworks they can deliver in this encounter. They generally add a lot more power to their ranks so we could be in for something special.
New Zealand are usually blessed with a lot of all-rounders so they never lack for bowling options and with a couple of good quality spinners in their ranks as well they tick every box. Given how comfortably they have won recent matches against Sri Lanka, it might be that the one thing they have to guard against is complacency.
Sri Lanka
Given the struggles they are having in the bowling department, it stands to reason that Sri Lanka’s best chance of winning in the present environment comes in the shortest form of the game so they will be eager to take their chance here, and head to Australia with a boost in confidence ahead of what will be another tough time of things.
When you look at the Sri Lanka squad for this match, there is a remarkable absence of mystery spin in their ranks but there is a significant depth of batting mite and if they fire as a complete unit then they could put up a real sizeable total. You get the feeling they are going to need to though because their bowling looks very weak, as we saw in the ODIs.
Team News
Tim Southee will captain the Kiwis in this match with Kane Williamson being given the evening off. Jimmy Neesham has picked up an injury though and has been replaced in the squad by Doug Bracewell.
Sri Lanka have Seekhuge Prasanna and Lakshan Sandakan in their squad for this match but with the dimensions of Eden Park the way they are it might be that only one of them plays. Lasith Malinga continues to skipper the team.
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Betting
At Eden Park I’m always drawn to one bet which is the sixes. I say that because you can’t really bet on the match outcome because this ground is near enough impossible to defend as we have seen time and time again. Once we know the outcome of the toss we can look to get involved in that market but not before then.
With that in mind I will take on the sixes where a 14.5 line looks very low given the straight boundaries here are absolutely tiny and that Sri Lanka were hitting the ball nicely in the ODIs. New Zealand are probably more powerful in the shortest format of the game and so all things being equal I’m expecting to see more than 14.5 sixes in this one.
Tips
WON – Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfred
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