NZ v SL 1st ODI Review: Henry's four sinks Sri Lanka

Christchurch was the perfect place for the visitors to change their fortune and pull the cards in their favour. The morning donned a mild overcast look but the surprise came little late in the day when Tim Southee and Trent Boult didn’t feature in the list of eleven. Adam Milne seized the opportunity with both hands by striking in the third over; slanting the ball away as Gunathilaka flirted with danger and lost his wicket. The first review came in handy after the umpire Jones ruled out a possible nick. Milne took a leaf out of the book of dangerous duo (Boult and Southee), bowling quick and maintaining the nagging line.

He bowled in the 140’s on a regular basis and came up with a 150km/hr to make it unpredictable. Dilshan’s 26-minute stay at the crease came to an end after Matt Henry, playing his 17th ODI, banged a short one which hustled the batter to present his wicket. The eighth over of the innings witnessed twin blows as Thirimanne who faced a drought against Milne, tried to play in front but got trapped by an in-swinging delivery from Henry. And then, skipper Angelo Mathews failed to trouble the scorers nicking the very first ball to Latham at slips.

From 21/2, the visitors were reduced to 23/4, but Henry wasn’t done yet. He bowled a fuller one and found the edge of Dinesh Chandimal. Ross Taylor, playing his 330th ODI, did the rest as the visitors were five down with 27 on the board.

Siriwardana’s solid 66 gave some resistance to Sri Lanka’s awful batting, plundering seven boundaries. He got ample support from Nuwan Kulasekara, as the duo notched up a 98-run stand for the seventh wicket. Bracewell’s three and McClenaghan two cleaned up the tail and the scoreboard read 188.

Chasing 189 to win, both the Kiwi openers went after the ball, smashing 100 runs in under 10 overs. Martin Guptill fired 79 runs from 56 balls while skipper Brendon McCullum stroked a 25-ball 55. Kulasekara was blunt, going for over 9rpo, whereas skipper Mathews faced the wrath in one over which saw the Kiwi batters plunder 17 runs.

McCullum smashed 11 boundaries and one six, and Guptill stroked with delight, notching four sixes and nine boundaries. Baz went down the track at times and pulled in fashion when mattered. Guptill, on the other hand, sliced the ball and ramped on loose deliveries. The visitor’s bowling figures looked heavy on the pockets, as Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls completed the finishing mark without hiccups.

New Zealand sealed the win with 29 overs to spare and a took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Matt Henry was awarded the man of the match for his path-breaking 4/49.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka- 188 in 47 overs (Siriwardana 66; Henry 4/49)

New Zealand- 191/3 in 21 overs (Guptill 79; Dilshan 1/10)

Man of the match– Matt Henry (New Zealand)