Settled New Zealand need only fine-tuning ahead of second ODI

Saturday, 5 January 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNCricinfo: The first ODI was the kind of match from which both teams may feel they have emerged with credit. New Zealand, because it was a comfortable victory in the end, and because Martin Guptill and James Neesham – players who had been out for nine and 18 months respectively – rode fearsomely back into ODI form. Sri Lanka, because chasing 372, they were not completely annihilated, with bat in hand at least.

And yet, it was a game from which Sri Lanka learned very little about themselves, and in which familiar weaknesses were again readily apparent. The visitors lacked wicket-taking capability through the middle overs, and their batting order failed to fire as a unit.

Take the comparison with New Zealand. While through their middle overs, Guptill struck up a 163-run stand with Kane Williamson, then an 88-run stand with Ross Taylor – Sri Lanka’s two spinners unable to claim a wicket between them – the legspin of Ish Sodhi and the seam bowling of Neesham accounted for five wickets between overs 17 and 41. And although Sri Lanka had had the better start, their middle order failed abysmally – four batsmen not only failing to reach 20, but striking at less than 100 as well.That the teams only have 48 hours to recover and regroup might suit New Zealand just fine. There may have been one or two minor worries for them from Thursday – Matt Henry’s figures of 1 for 87 among them. But these are fine-tuning issues. Sri Lanka still have wholesale changes to make before they can even hope to be contenders at the World Cup in June.

A slower track is expected for Saturday’s match, which means that although it should still have plenty of runs, it may not be as high-scoring a game as the first ODI. The weather is expected to be good, with temperatures hovering around the mid-20s in the afternoon.