New Zealand thrash Sri Lanka by 9 wickets in ODI opener

New Zealand have cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their one-day series opener at Wellington’s Basin Reserve.

Opening batter Will Young remained unbeaten on 90 at the end, as the Black Caps overhauled their target of 179 with more than 23 overs to spare for the loss of just Rachin Ravindra in the chase.

With the benefit of knowing their modest target, the NZ batters were able to start conservatively, but were ahead of the required run rate from the second over.

Emboldened by his T20 breakout at Nelson, Ravindra lived a little dangerously, top-edging debutant Eshan Malinga for six over the keeper’s head, and was dead in the water, if debutant Eshan Malinga had connected on a straight-on runout attempt.

Otherwise, he was back near his best, combining with Young for an opening 93-run stand in 75 balls, before he chipped a catch to Wanindu Hasaranga on the square leg boundary. His 45 runs came off 36 balls, and included six fours and a six.

Young was simply as reliable as he has been whenever required in black, guiding his team past 100 in the 14th over, when he copped a delivery from Asitha Fernando in a sensitive region. He shrugged it off to bring up his 10th ODI fifty off 49 balls, then hit a four off the next delivery from Chamidu Wickramasinghe.

With Mark Chapman playing a support role at the other end, Young ran out of runway for a fourth one-day century.

With the ball, veteran Matt Henry had 4/19 off 10 overs, including three catches taken by captain Mitch Santner, as the tourists struggled to build partnerships throughout.

Opener Avishka Fernando led their scoring with 56 runs off 63 balls, and the middle order received contributions from Janith Liyanage, Wickramasinghe and Hasaranaga to provide some respectability, but ultimately, it was a target well short of international standard.

The Sri Lanka top order never settled, with dangerman Patham Nssanka tamely lobbing Henry to Santner at midoff and Kusal Mendis losing his stumps to Jacob Duffy early. Santner had Kamindu Mendis run out cheaply from side on and the tourists were reeling at 23/3 after nine overs.

With no addition to the score, Nathan Smith tickled the edge of Charith Asalanka’s bat and won a review, much to the disbelief of the Sri Lankan captain, throwing further doubt over the veracity of ‘snicko’ technology.

At the other end, Fernando watched bemused, as his teammates came and went in rapid succession, but eventually began to build the run rate, taking 12 runs off one over from Smith, including a four and a six over deep mid-wicket.

He eventually found a willing ally in Liyanage and they brought up an 87-run partnership in 94 balls. They dragged their team kicking and screaming over four runs an over, before Liyanage was caught by substitute fielder Michael Bracewell, off Santner, for 36 at 110/5. In the process, Bracewell seemed to concuss himself, as he tumbled backwards.

Fernando followed in the next over for 56 off 63 balls – his ninth ODI fifty – but Sri Lanka found another stubborn partnership between Wickramasinghe and Hasaranga that maintained the momentum, after a period of consolidation.

Wickramasinghe ultimately skied Henry over the head of Young, who turned and took the catch over his shoulder. His 22 came off a ponderous 42 balls and the 48-run partnership off 65.

Wily Hasaranga raised his scoring to a run a ball with back-to-back boundaries off Will O’Rourke, perhaps sensing this was a tail that showed very little resistance during the preceding T20 fixtures. That over cost O’Rourke 15 runs, with Malinga also finding the rope.

Henry lured Hasaranga into a couple of false shots, the first of which landed safely between fielders, but the second fell into Santner’s mitts, before the same Henry-Santner combo also accounted for Malinga.

Duffy had the last say, as Asitha Fernando guided a bouncer to Mitch Hay behind the stumps. Sri Lanka’s last three wickets fell for three runs – with more than six overs still up their sleeves.

Earlier, Black Caps Test captain Tom Latham was ruled out of the series opener, after pulling up sore from his Super Smash outing with Canterbury on Friday.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Basin Reserve, where the capital has turned on a windy day.

“I guess it’s been undercover for a couple of days,” said Santner of the pitch. “A little bit of grass on it, but I think it’ll play pretty good.”

The fixture provides a final build-up for the ICC Champions Trophy tournament, which New Zealand won in 2000 and Sri Lanka shared with India two years later, when two attempts to play a final were rained out. Sri Lanka have not qualified this time, but still carry impressive form in this format.

“We obviously have that in the back of our mind, anything about that, but we have a pretty important series here against a very good Sri Lankan side and it starts today,” said Santner.

The home side won the just-completed Twenty20 series 2-1, but Sri Lanka captured the final encounter at Nelson, so carry some momentum into the longer format.

Both teams have seen a rotation of players for the ODI series, with Young, Smith and O’Rourke introduced to the Black Caps line-up.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (captain), Janith Liyanage, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando

New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchel Hay (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Santner (captain), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke

Sri Lanka 178 (Avishka 56, Liyange 36, Hasaranga 35; Henry 4/19)

Source: 1News
--Agencies