New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI, Preview: Rusty Lankans and keen Kiwis hope to start 2019 on a high

To start the year and the series on a high will be a priority for both teams and Sri Lanka among the two will find it tougher.

Published - 02 Jan 2019, 13:12 IST | Updated - 02 Jan 2019, 13:12 IST

View : 3.7K

2 Min Read

Trent Bolt of New Zealand celebrates his hat-trick

It is New Zealand and Sri Lanka who will play the first One-Day International game of 2019. The action in the three-match ODI series will kick off on Thursday at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. With the World Cup 2019 just a few months away, both the teams will be eyeing to narrow down on the options and move forward with a settled squad in mind.

The Kiwis were great in Test series winning it 1-0 and will be a confident unit going forward. The Kane Williamson-led side will be hoping to get off to a positive start in the series. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have had a lot of troubles in recent times. Lasith Malinga, who wasn’t even in the contention for a spot in the team until a few months ago, is now the leader of the side. His aim would be to make optimal use of the resources and start the year on a winning note.

Team Combinations

New Zealand

New Zealand’s approach to the World Cup has been quite great. The management is giving a good outing to all the players and thus is keeping numerous options open at all times. Martin Guptill is back into the side for this series. Also, James Neesham might get a go as Colin de Grandhomme is rested. He could well seal the spot with a few good performances. Matt Henry is expected to be back into the playing XI instead of Lockie Ferguson after missing out on playing against Pakistan.

Predicted XI: Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tim Seifert (wk), Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Matt Henry.

Sri Lanka

There is a lot of ambiguity about the Sri Lankan XI. Firstly, Kusal Perera is back at the expense of Sadeera Samarawickrama who had a decent outing against England. The management has given enough opportunities to Dhananjaya de Silva and he failed to repay the faith they put in him. Hence, either of Danushka Gunathilaka or Asela Gunaratne might make their way into the XI. With Akila Dhananjaya banned, Seekkuge Prasanna is likely to make a comeback after over a year. Lahiru Kumara could get an opportunity for the series opener.

Predicted XI: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka/Asela Gunaratne, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lasith Malinga (c), Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep.

Focus will be on

Tim Seifert (New Zealand)

Tom Latham was incredible in the Test series against Sri Lanka and batted tiringly long, thus the team management decided to rest him for the series. In his place wicketkeeper-batsman, Tim Seifert is set to make his debut.

The 24-year-old made his international debut in the T20I series against England in 2018 and has played 37 first-class games and has scored 2193 runs at an average of 37.81 with four hundreds and 11 fifties. As far as his glovework is concerned, Seifert has taken 100 catches and effected 4 stumpings in his career thus far.

Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

The veteran pacer Malinga, with all the experience that he’s got, can provide the solution to Sri Lanka’s captaincy troubles. He is a great thinker of the game and is a decent strategist. With the pressure of high expectations, a lot of eyes will be keenly following him as to how he fares and this will be a huge test of temperament for the 35-year-old skipper.

Head to Head

Matches – 95 | New Zealand won – 45 | Sri Lanka won – 41 | Tied – 1 | NR – 8

Stats Attack

311 – The number of ODI wickets picked by Lasith Malinga. He needs five more wickets to go past the tally of Javagal Srinath who accounted for 315 wickets.

24 – The runs Martin Guptill requires to get to 6,000 ODI runs. Kane Williamson is 135 runs short of the same landmark.