The ODI series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka concludes on Friday when the two sides meet in the third match in Hamilton which will actually be the second time they meet after the previous match was washed out without a ball bowled.
New Zealand drew first blood with an emphatic victory in the opening ODI so Sri Lanka will need to win this match to claim a share of the series. It is more important than that for Sri Lanka though as it is their last chance to win points towards qualifying for the World Cup.
New Zealand
I think when New Zealand picked the squad that they did for this series they were fully accepting the fact that they might lose it. They have allowed all of their IPL players to head to that tournament and will play these matches and the T20s which follow without them. That seems a fair enough compromise when you consider New Zealand will be at the World Cup in October regardless of what happened in these matches.
They might therefore have been taken by surprise when it turned out that they absolutely thrashed Sri Lanka in the first game of the series at Auckland. What was particularly surprising about that is their bowlers won them the game and when you consider who they have away at the IPL that was no mean achievement. It means that with the rain washing the second game out this younger, inexperienced squad is guaranteed a share of the series.
Sri Lanka
Going into the series it was billed as a great chance for Sri Lanka to pick up a few more points towards World Cup qualification which would force the hand of both South Africa and Ireland over the next few days. They bodged their opening chance and were not given the opportunity to make up for that in the second one so now they have one final game to propel their points total a little and cling onto the hope of avoiding having to go to the qualification tournament.
If that is going to happen then Sri Lanka won’t need me to tell them that they have to bat a whole lot better than they did in Auckland. They were shot out in no time at all. Usually when a side is bowled out within 20 overs of a 50 over game it is because they were chasing 400+ and had to throw the bat at everything from the outset. That wasn’t the case so it really was a disappointing batting display. What made it worse was the great job their bowlers had previously done.
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Team News
New Zealand will be forced into two changes for this match with Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips being allowed to head to the IPL after the first game. Mark Chapman and Henry Nicholls are the men most likely to replace them in the side.
You would imagine that Sri Lanka will be looking for some more batting depth after the shambles of the first game so that could see Dhananjaya de Silva getting a game, especially as he could bowl a few overs as well.
Betting
The first match turned into something of a lower scoring game than we are used to in Hamilton and when you consider the two most dangerous New Zealand batters have since gone off to the Indian Premier League, I think it is fair to assume that this one will not be the highest scoring match either, even allowing for the fact that New Zealand don’t have their number one bowling attack out in this game.
I don’t see Sri Lanka going from being rolled over in 20 overs to putting up a massive score in the space of a few days and even if they were capable of going that, they don’t really have a number of big hitters so it is hard to see them piling up the runs in this one, especially if there is a little in the pitch which you would imagine there will be at this time of the year. When you balance everything up there is enough to suggest that 525.5 runs is a bit on the high side.
Tips
Back Under 525.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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