The second game of the Micromax tri-series at Dambulla will see Sri Lanka take on new Zealand. New Zealand had won the first game of the series by beating India by a whopping margin of 200 runs. This meant that they won an extra bonus point and have five points now. This is Sri Lanka's first game.

Sri Lanka will now know that they need to be wary of the Kiwi pace attack. However, the question that will be on everyone's lips is whether the amount of grass that was on display in the first ODI will be there in this game as well, given that the hosts Sri Lanka rely heavily on their spin bowlers. if the grass is allowed to remain on the track, then the New Zealand pace bowlers, who are tall and hence can extract lot of pace and bounce from a grassy track will come into the picture in the same manner that they had in the first game and make life difficult for the Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka will have a new opener to partner T Dilshan. Upul Tharanga will come in place of Tharanga Paranavitana, while Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene will follow him. Angelo Mathews will bat in the middle order and one gets the feeling that Thisara Perrera will be in the side as well.

There is a good chance that the Lankan side will have two spinners if the track is a usual Lankan pitch. However, if the track continues to hold grass, then it will make sense for the side to go in with only one spinner, in which case, Suraj Randiv could get the nod.

New Zealand may not change anything based on how the pitch looks. If the pitch is similar looking to the previous one, then there is a good chance that the same line-up will play in the game. However, with the Lankans expected to shave off the grass, New Zealand may look at brining in one spinner, which, in all probability, will be Nathan McCullum. In that case, one of Andy McKay, Kyle Mills or Darryl Tuffey will need to sit out of the game, even as Jacob Oram will be a part.

The batting for New Zealand will depend on Ross Taylor again, but he will know that he needs support at the other end. Scott Styris did play his part well, but the other top-order batsmen need to take control as well.

Tag :- Nathan McCullum   New Zealand   Ross Taylor   Sri Lanka   Upul Tharanga