The ODI series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand moves to Pallekele for the second match of the three on Sunday, the first chance for the home side to wrap up the series having had to share the spoils in the T20 matches which preceded it.
Sri Lanka know that they have another chance to seal the series even should this match get away from them but New Zealand know that if they are to force a deciding game then they have to come out on top in this match.
Sri Lanka
We will never know what the situation would have been had the rain not arrived when it did in the opening game but Sri Lanka are entitled to think that they would have won the game when you consider that they had 324 on the board with a few balls remaining in conditions where they generally bowl pretty well. There is no doubt that the DLS calculation worked massively in their favour though but that isn’t their problem. They still needed to defend the total and they did that.
The good thing for Sri Lanka as well as the fact that they won that opening match was they still had plenty left in the hutch given that Kamindu Mendis didn’t make it to the crease. The other positive for the Sri Lankans is that they were able to win without a couple of their better bowlers in the side. That bodes well for them when they look to build towards the next 50 over World Cup given that the failed to make it into the Champions Trophy.
New Zealand
New Zealand went into the ODI series off the back of a really good fighting effort to win the second T20 match but they ran into the rain at the wrong time. It would have been a tough chase for them even had the rain not arrived but I think it is fair to say that they would have had a better chance over the 50 over duration than the 27 overs they were required to bat. They will hope to get a fairer crack of the whip here and if they do they would have every chance.
The one thing New Zealand will need to do is get more of a control of the bowling innings. They couldn’t break the second wicket partnership up and that eventually took the game away from them but if they can crack the door open in the powerplay then they showed in the second T20 that they can be competitive. This might not be the strongest New Zealand side that we’ll ever see but they know there could be Champions Trophy spots up for grabs so they will be desperate to be competitive.
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Team News
Sri Lanka might well think that there is no need to change a winning side until the series is won. They are not preparing for the Champions Trophy so they could decide that winning momentum is more important than anything else.
New Zealand might see it differently. You would imagine that they will rotate their bowlers Nathan Smith was expensive in the first game and with Adam Milne waiting in the wings that could be a natural swap here.
Betting
Pallekele is a decent ground for batting and with this being the first match of the New Zealand tour on this ground we should get a decent batting track and given that Sri Lanka have just posted over 325 in the first game it would make sense to think that this will be a high scoring game as well. New Zealand had one or two players in their side who didn’t play in the T20s who probably needed the run out to get adjusted to conditions and shake off some rust and so there should be some natural improvement in the visitors.
The run line for this match is 506.5 which is fairly low by modern standards and certainly low if Sri Lanka bat first and stick another 320 on the board. Even if New Zealand bat first and have 50 overs to bat it would be a surprise were they not to go beyond 250 because while they might be a batter light they make up for that with a lot of all-rounders. I think we saw enough in the opening game prior to the rain coming to think that this line has more than a good chance of being covered.
Tips
Back Over 506.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
