Second-placed New Zealand will be looking to fend off resurgent Sri Lanka as the Champions Trophy approaches
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Second-placed New Zealand will be looking to fend off resurgent Sri Lanka as the Champions Trophy approaches

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

While ODIs were once popular with broadcasters, particularly on bilateral tours, they are now the format that boards struggle to fit into the calendar when a major tournament is approaching. The Champions Trophy is still about seven weeks away and New Zealand only played in three ODIs last year. They must now hurry up to find their most effective combinations, refine their strategy and gain some momentum in this format. However, all of this is complicated by the fact that up to six top players – Kane Williamson, Finn Allen, Adam Milne, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert – are away in either the Big Bash League or SAT20.

Can Sri Lanka do this abroad?

Although Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2023 due to their dismal World Cup, they appear to have turned their ODI game around in 2024. They have won five of the six series they played in 2024, including against New Zealand and India. However, 11 of their 12 ODI victories last year came at home, often on surfaces with large curves. Although Sri Lanka has significantly increased its silverware collection, many fans are tempering their expectations until they win on the more batting-friendly surfaces they usually find abroad.
Jacob Duffy has only played eight ODIs but comes into this series having been outstanding in the T20Is. He took eight wickets and posted an economy rate of 5.50 in the three matches and was usually tight with his lines. He was part of New Zealand’s ODI rebuild after the 2023 World Cup and a good series here will help him push for a spot in the Champions Trophy XI, even after the returns of players like Ferguson and Milne. He has good figures against Sri Lanka in this format too – he took 3 for 41 in a high-scoring ODI in Dambulla in November.
In the last three months, Mitchell Santner has taken 13 wickets in New Zealand’s spectacular demolition of India in Pune; scored 125 runs and took seven wickets in the major Test victory over England in Hamilton; and become New Zealand’s permanent white-ball captain. For a long time, Santner was the all-rounder who ensured team balance without causing the world to roil. Now he is showing signs of developing into an absolute match winner. However, he still has a lot of work to do to get the New Zealand team ready for the Champions Trophy.

Will Kamindu improve his ODI game?

He averages 74 points on tests and tends to score quickly on his runs. However, in this format, Kamindu Mendis has crossed fifty only once in 13 innings. This was partly because he often came out on top, sometimes only finishing in 8th place. But he has been so successful in Tests and his game seems so well-suited to limited-overs cricket that there is likely to be some consideration within the Sri Lanka team management about promoting him for a more permanent role.

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