*Official* New Zealand in Sri Lanka

[Athlai]

Crap weather.

 

[straw man]

The rain to save us then? With half our team sick, we're stuffed otherwise.

Nah, will bat 100 overs and be 300/3 at the end.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

Well, England batted 108 overs @ 1.94 RPO to reach 210/9 in the 4th innings here and SA batted 90 @ 2.25 RPO to reach 203/3.

So there is a reasonable chance to hold on
Play's about to start again

 

[Meridio]

Nah, will bat 100 overs and be 300/3 at the end.

Right, with O'Brien batting at number four on 85 not out.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

FLYNN OPENING

Never thought I'd see the day

EDIT: Oh crap, well there goes the whole Flynn opening bandwagon

 

[Athlai]

Well that was a suprisingly immediate answer to that question.

 

[NZ Guy]

.........

Does anyone else feel like this when we lose a wicket when we lose a wicket. Your frustrated but you just expected so you just sit silently.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

.........

Does anyone else feel like this when we lose a wicket. Your frustrated but you just expected so you just sit silently.

No, I unleash the rage of a thousand hells upon those nearby

 

[Meridio]

Oh jeez, Flynn one already. Wonder what our batting order is going to be.

 

[Athlai]

Basically we can say this is the Taylor opening question. Coming in for the 6th ball of the innings is earlier than most openers...

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Your frustrated but you just expected so you just sit silently.

You get used to it after a while. So much so, that you get detuned to the mediocrity and it comes as no surprise when the top order collapses in a heap.

In short, I agree.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

Should have opened with Vettori

 

[Mahindinho]

HOW good has Dilshan been recently? Okay, he was always a decent middle-order batsman, but this year has been quite a purple patch. Has he changed his technique, or is it mostly attitude?

 

[straw man]

Should have opened with Vettori

Vettori's so far been one of two good bowlers in the first innings, one of our top scorers with the bat, bowled almost half the overs of the second innings, one of the few who isn't sick (is too hard for that) and in all seriousness is probably the single batsman most likely to give NZ a chance of saving this match.

 

[straw man]

.........

Does anyone else feel like this when we lose a wicket when we lose a wicket. Your frustrated but you just expected so you just sit silently.

Maybe not silently, but expected... yes.

 

[Prince EWS]

Vettori's so far been one of two good bowlers in the first innings, one of our top scorers with the bat, bowled almost half the overs of the second innings, one of the few who isn't sick (is too hard for that) and in all seriousness is probably the single batsman most likely to give NZ a chance of saving this match.

And despite all that, he's one of the major reasons you're out of the game. Cricket's funny sometimes.

 

[straw man]

And despite all that, he's one of the major reasons you're out of the game. Cricket's funny sometimes.

Yes, the muddled selection and decision to then bowl first didn't make a lot of sense - negating both advantages we could have had.

In watching how the SL lower order disintegrated in the first innings you have to think that if we'd managed to prise out Jaya or Sama early in the first innings the game could be hugely different now. Any little advantage that might have helped there eg. selecting Tuffey over Patel, could have made a big difference.

Though, I would have prefered selecting Patel and batting first.

 

[Flem274*]

Whats rather annoying is our best batsman (Ryder) is one of the worst effected. He's one of the few I have confidence in to bring us home.

 

[Athlai]

Taylor to go the hard yards with Guptill. If either of them make it to tea I'll be very very pleased.

Kinda strange to see our Keeper, reserve keeper (Ryder) and 3rd choice keeper (McIntosh) all unfit to field. How many times has that happened before?

 

[Migara]

This is going to be a draw. NZ batsmen are ill, and SL short of a bowler. Leading bowler (murali) is also not 100% fit. Most NZers will be better tomorrow as travellers diarrhea tend to get better within 36 hours.