The ODI series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka continues on Wednesday with the two teams moving from Wellington to Hamilton for the second game of the scheduled three and the first which the home side have the chance to secure the spoils.
An emphatic win in the opening game means that New Zealand just need to win one of the last two games to win the series whereas Sri Lanka have to come out on top here if they are going to force a deciding match in Auckland at the weekend.
New Zealand
Usually a team would need to build into a series to deliver a close to perfect performance but that wasn’t the case for New Zealand in this one. Admittedly they would have been helped in that regard by the fact that this series was preceded by three T20 matches but even so to deliver the emphatic, dominant display that they were able to in that opening game bodes well for them, especially with the Champions Trophy beginning to close in on the horizon.
The Kiwis will be looking to go to that tournament as one of the favourites to win the competition and building a head of steam up would certainly help, even if only a few of those involved in this series will be in Pakistan and the UAE next month. New Zealand won the opening match with the ball. It was a good toss to win but at the same time they still had to make the most of it and they did that emphatically, so much so that the run chase was made a formality very quickly.
Sri Lanka
Having won the final T20 match between these two and after looking to be significant improvers in the 50 over game heading to New Zealand, there is no doubt that Sri Lanka will be disappointed with their showing in that opening game. They were done and dusted really before the end of the opening powerplay and while they battled well to put some sort of score up on the board, it never really looked like being enough and soon became clear that it definitely wasn’t going to challenge New Zealand.
Clearly Sri Lanka will want to be a whole lot better than they were in Wellington. It would help if they either win the toss or it isn’t as important as it was there were they to lose it but at the same time they need to come up with a way of combatting the new ball much better. We can’t really judge their bowling effort too much when you consider that they had nowhere near enough runs to defend but at the same time, if they can get early wickets that would certainly help their cause.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the series (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Team News
There is no real reason for New Zealand to change what was an emphatic winning side in the opening game, although with a tournament on the horizon it might be that they want to give game time to as many players as possible, in which case Michael Bracewell and Tom Latham are options.
You would imagine Sri Lanka will be forced into a change or two here given how poor they were in that opening game. They failed with the bat but it is generally with the ball that changes are made so Maheesh Theekshana could come into the side.
Betting
I think we’ll see a higher scoring match than we got in the opening game. Seddon Park is generally a higher scoring ground than the Basin Reserve and both teams have had a game against each other in the format and know what is coming their way. The fact that the opening match was a day game where the toss had a significant impact on proceedings probably also accounted for a lower scoring game while the cold conditions wouldn’t have helped Sri Lanka any either.
This one is completely different. It is a day-night match on a ground with a flat pitch in much more favourable temperatures so I’m expecting to see a higher scoring game. The beauty of that first match being low scoring is we can get a 53.5 boundary line for this one and when you consider that in a match where the team batting first was 23-4 after 10 overs and only put up 178, the fact we got 43 boundaries on a tougher ground to bat on bodes well for getting the 11 more we need here, especially if some dew assists batting in the second innings. I like over on that line.
Tips
Back Over 53.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Be the first to comment on "New Zealand vs Sri Lanka – 2nd ODI Tips and Betting Preview"