After a good two match Test Series, New Zealand and Sri Lanka turn their attentions to the white ball and the 50 over game on Saturday when the two sides play the first of three ODIs, which carry plenty of importance for the away team.
This is a big few months for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket. They either need to win this series 3-0 and hope South Africa mess up against the Netherlands later this month or they will head to the qualifying competition to look to make it to the World Cup. New Zealand have no such issues. This is all about ticking towards the tournament in India for them.
New Zealand
While New Zealand will be wanting to prepare for the World Cup which is only just over six months away now, they are forever fighting to have their best players available and generally need to compromise by letting them play in the IPL, which is an issue for this series. It means that pretty much anyone with an IPL contract will miss this series for New Zealand so we are going to see a largely second string outfit on display for the home side.
We generally find that New Zealand are usually pretty competent with the ball in ODI cricket with the depth that they have in the format. That might serve them well in the second and third games of the series but here at Eden Park runs are of the priority so it will be interesting to see how one or two inexperienced batters at this level cope with the Sri Lanka spinners in particular and whether they can put up the sufficient number of runs to be competitive.
Sri Lanka
While Sri Lanka have made huge improvements in the Test and T20 spheres over the last 12 months or so, they have not been able to replicate that in the 50 over game but if they are even to be at the World Cup they are going to need to find another level over the next few months. They will probably need to kick off again should they qualify for the tournament, although at least they will be familiar with conditions with the World Cup being in India.
Usually the problem Sri Lanka have in this format of the game is judging what a decent score is and working out how to go about batting 50 overs to get that score. They have an ideal chance to put that to the test here and there are no excuses because by and large their best 50 over batters are with them for this series. If they can sort out their batting then in the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, Sri Lanka have two gun bowlers.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this series! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
New Zealand find themselves without Kane Williamson, Devon Conway, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult among others who are all off away with their IPL franchises getting ready for that tournament. It has been confirmed that Chad Bowes and Rachin Ravindra will make their ODI debuts.
Sri Lanka have one or two selection questions to answer but they are about what is best in the conditions rather than players they are necessarily missing. If they want to play the extra seamer on a small ground then Matheesha Pathirana could get the nod ahead of Maheesh Theekshana.
Betting
This opening match isn’t necessarily the easiest one to bet on because we don’t know exactly how strong or weak the two sides will be but judging by the proposed XIs this should be a match where the batters get the chance to shine. They certainly have the ground dimensions to do that and as such I expect a fairly high scoring game. Sri Lanka will be coming up against a largely second string attack so you’ve got to think their batters, especially the ones who went well in the Test series, will be able to prosper.
New Zealand don’t necessarily get the luxury of coming up against a reduced Sri Lanka attack but there are question marks over whether the Sri Lankan strength, as in their spinners, will be negated a touch by the pitches in this part of the world. There should be enough in the New Zealand batting to go well, especially if a Finn Allen or a Glenn Phillips gets in and goes well. The run line for this match is 519.5 and that just doesn’t look high enough on a ground of this small size.
Tips
Back Over 519.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
