New Zealand vs. SL – Sri Lanka wants to prevail against the new New Zealand
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New Zealand vs. SL – Sri Lanka wants to prevail against the new New Zealand

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

While most of the world’s attention will be on the Boxing Day Tests in Australia and South Africa – both with strong implications for the final of the World Test Championship – there is still much to come before this three-match T20I series for New Zealand and Sri Lanka Game from Saturday. Here are some of the top talking points to keep an eye on over the next week.

Can Sri Lanka break its New Zealand hoodoo?

“The bounce and the seam movement – that’s the main difference.” That was Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka’s succinct analysis of the conditions they face. In recent tours, Sri Lanka’s batsmen have struggled to cope with such conditions, while their bowlers have been unable to receive the same support as the home team. But this Sri Lankan side might have a better chance than most.

“If you look at their team, it’s probably one of the best teams they’ve produced as a collective,” New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said ahead of the first T20I.

“They have everything covered. The fast bowlers are a challenge and the spinners know how good they are. Their top six are dangerous all the time.”

“I think the group they’ve put together can take them forward for several years.”

High praise, and rightly so considering Sri Lanka has had a year, apart from the T20 World Cup. But much of Sri Lanka’s good results last year came at home, and it was the red-ball team that traveled with them. But this tour finally offers the white-ball unit the chance to test themselves in unfamiliar conditions and perhaps finally secure a white-ball series win in New Zealand.

New Zealand continues its reconstruction

Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell and Matt Henry are all back in the white-ball squad – already making this a stronger squad than the one that toured Sri Lanka – but with players like Lockie Ferguson, Finn Allen, Adam Milne, Tim Seifert, Kane Williamson and Devon Conway are all out on franchise duty and Tom Latham, Will Young and Will O’Rourke have been rested for the T20 leg. This is still a pretty green New Zealand team.

But with an even greener side earning a commendable 1-1 draw in Sri Lanka, there is a quiet optimism among the home fans for further improvement.

While fast bowling all-rounder Zakary Foulkes will look to build on an impressive performance in Sri Lanka, others such as Mitchell Hay and Tim Robinson – who both struggled for runs on the slower sub-continental surfaces – will no doubt be hoping to justify their selection in Sri Lanka more familiar conditions – and potentially put their name in play for the 2026 World Cup.

Bevon Jacobs’ Rising Stock

Had things gone according to plan, Sri Lanka might have had the opportunity to take an early look at him as he was part of the tour game in Lincoln but he never came to bat.

However, this could prove beneficial for Jacobs and New Zealand as the opposition has limited intelligence to prepare against him.

And with a fast outfield and pristine overhead conditions expected at Mount Maunganui, all eyes will no doubt be on the powerful middle-order batsman should he make his debut as expected.

Will the Sri Lanka experiment be settled?

One of the hallmarks of Sanath Jayasuriya’s tenure as head coach has been Sri Lanka’s willingness to give players staying power – a sound strategy to give underperforming players a chance to get into form while rewarding those who perform. But it has also resulted in marginalized groups being offered limited opportunities.

The home series against New Zealand provided such an opportunity as the visitors sent a weaker team. However, Sri Lanka opted to play with a full squad, forgoing the chance to provide invaluable international experience to some of the younger players.

This has led to the unusual scenario of Dinesh Chandimal being picked for successive squads but yet to play a T20I since 2022, while Chamidu Wickramasinghe was picked on the back of an impressive LPL but has barely played a game. There are also many questions about Asitha Fernando’s workload as the seamer has played almost every game he has been available for.

Sri Lanka have again fielded a strong squad for this tour, but if players like Chandimal or Wickramasinghe want to get playing time, Sri Lanka will have to be prepared to disrupt an established XI – something they have been hesitant to do so far.

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