 The third leg of New Zealand's tour of Sri Lanka will start from Tuesday,
as the two nations face each other in the first game of the Compaq Cup tri-series.
India is the third country in the tournament and will face Sri Lanka and New
Zealand in the other two games before the finals on next Monday.
Click for Live Score Card of Sri Lanka vs New
Zealand
All of a sudden, the hunter is now the hunted. Sri Lanka was clearly the team
in full flow and the side holding all the aces in the test match series but
all of a sudden, a change in their uniform from white to blue changed their
fortunes as well. Sri Lanka's 0-2 loss would mean that they would have to start
rebuilding again, as compared to a week back when they would have used the tournament
as a practice one for the Champions Trophy.
Lanka's basic problem in the shorter format of the game stems from their middle
order which is almost non-existent after the number four. Thilan Samaraweera
had been tried for the ODIs against Pakistan, but now, he has been dropped as
well, and it is the turn of the younger guns like Gihan Rupasinge to stamp their
authority in the series. Mahela Udawatte would in all probabilities get
a go again - despite his duck in the second T20I game - and bat at number three,
so that Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene could bat a little deeper
down.
It remains to be seen whether Muttiah Muralitharan would play in the
game despite being named in the squad. His groin injury has afforded him a lot
of trouble, and if he is not fit then, Kaushal Lokuarachchi may get a look-in.
New Zealand would be bubbling over with the excitement of having routed the
hosts in their own backyard. However, they would very well know the difference
between the two formats; T20I and ODIs is much larger than what some would like
to think, which would make their task equally tough. As such the team looks
strong, with the likes of Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder at the top,
and Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and a Jacob Oram in the middle order.
However, what could be a problem is their ability to play a long enough innings
to last the fifty overs; apart from Guptill not too many are equipped to play
at good scoring rates and last the distance!
The bowling seems much more potent now, given the return of Shane Bond,
and with the choice of Ian Butler, Kyle Mills and the two of the three spinners
in Vettori, Jeetan Patel and Nathan McCullum to choose from.
All the games will be played at RPS in Colombo, the same venue where the Kiwis
won their two successive T20Is!
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