Sri Lanka-Kiwi one-dayer should be close

By Ranjan Anandappa

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that he was not concerned about the composition of the New Zealand team but considered it as a team representing a Test playing nation when the two sides meet each other in three ODI’s and two T20 matches, the first ODI starting today (Sunday) at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota.

Mathews said that one could remember when Sri Lanka last played New Zealand in England it was an exciting one and I am sure this too will be an exciting one. Both teams will play hard and the best team may win. “We are disappointed that the New Zealanders are without some of their regular players but we Sri Lankans are confronting New Zealand and winning is the important factor. Winning the first game is very important in a three match ODI series and there after may be we could go in for some experiments” said Mathews.

Prior to the visit to the Island the Kiwis lost a ODI series to Bangladesh 3-0 winning only the solitary T20. So New Zealand too will be trying to salvage some prestige before they are homeward bound. New Zealand captain Kyle Mills said that due to the injury of the regular captain Brendon McCullum he had to take over the side which is a challenge, but it is a greater challenge coming over to Sri Lanka playing against a pretty good team and had the absolute belief that he could do a pretty good job as the captain of the New Zealand side. “It is an exciting couple of weeks for me,” said Mathews. Although losing to Bangladesh 3-0 in the limited-overs series the Kiwis won the only T20 game in a match which realised nearly 400 runs, that shows the Kiwi team has a lot of confidence.

Referring to the cancelled Zimbabwe cricket tour, Mathews said that it was unfortunate, but the team had time to refresh themselves and prepare for about two months with strength training for the New Zealand tour. The Lankan cricketers were also involved in a tough domestic practice tournament which had the cream of the players. So we are in good shape.

“We are not going to be complacent with the New Zealanders because we all know what they are capable of. In the last outing, they gave a really good fight and we came down to the wire and lost. The main thing is to try and win the series. We go in with full strength first and see how it goes. If we do our basics correctly and play good and positive cricket, the rankings will automatically go up. So we are not looking at the rankings but want to play positive and win the series,” Angelo Mathews said.

Teams

New Zealand (From): Kyle Mills (Captain), Corey Anderson, Anton Devicich, Grant Elliot, Andrew Ellis, Tom Nathan, (WK), Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, James Neeshan, Rob Nicol, Luke Ronchi, Hemish Rutherford, Neil Broom

Sri Lanka (From): Angelo Mathews (Captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Janith Perera, Kumar Sangakkara (WK), Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath, Sachitra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis and Ashan Priyanjana.