Athlai
Not Terrible
Lakmal may do well in our conditions but that doesn't mean we'll roll over for him.
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**Official** Pakistan v New Zealand in the UAE 2014
- Thread starter Kippax
- Start date
Zinzan
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SL knocked up the most wins (but played 3 tests more than NZ), but Australia & NZ shared the highest winning percentage. (assuming we discount the WI for their 2-0 win over bang);
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hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Well we very nearly rolled over for Ishant Sharma and India were a decent spinner away from nailing us. Herath>>>>>>>Jadeja.
/Bahnz' half empty glass.
Athlai
Not Terrible
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
The primary difference is that Sri Lanka has the best spinner in the world in their side, and a host of batsmen used to playing in dry, spinning conditions. In my opinion, given the makeup of their side, drawing a test series in New Zealand would be a bigger achievement than drawing a series in the UAE.
Zinzan
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Agree, don't think Herath will be such a big threat in our conditions particularly with our recent improvement against spin.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
They won a series in England. That's huge.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Basically, if we produce seamy roads like the at Eden Park earlier this year then I think we'll win the SRL series and hopefully win it well. But if Hesson overdoes it on the advice to the groundsmen and we get another Wellington style greentop, then that risks making things into much more of a lottery. Sri Lanka could beat us if they win the toss and stick us in on a batsman's nightmare of a surface.
OverratedSanity
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Meh 2 test series hardly count.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
One thing about SL is that their leadership is far stronger than India's or Windies or England's. They won't complain about conditions or luck and won't bowl short like those 3 did then wonder why they're not taking wickets. They won't buckle at the slightest sign of things not going right for them and they won't give up positions of dominance as easily.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Herath won't be a huge threat but he'll be able to block up and end and still take advantage of any batsmen who try to do silly things against him. I think Prasad holds the key in many ways, he is pretty dangerous with his pace and movement off the deck and we'll be relying on him to be our strike weapon, if he fires a couple of times and takes a few quick wickets the rest of the attack are largely stayers who can do a job all day and with some assistance off the pitch can hopefully pick off the rest of the order.
As for the batting Kuashal Silva and (if he plays) Sanga are vital, both can do it tough against decent fast bowling and with Sanga just finding his mojo again in the ODIs hopefully he's right to go in NZ, of course Matthews is probably the game breaker in NZ, arguably the best player of pace/movement in the team and in the form of his life. Thirimanne will probably get another shot in the test team and he is probably a better player of pace than spin, but hard to say how he'll go because he has the ability to do well but often looks short of confidence and form at test level.
NZ should win, but if Sri Lanka win the right tosses and execute well then look out
As for the batting Kuashal Silva and (if he plays) Sanga are vital, both can do it tough against decent fast bowling and with Sanga just finding his mojo again in the ODIs hopefully he's right to go in NZ, of course Matthews is probably the game breaker in NZ, arguably the best player of pace/movement in the team and in the form of his life. Thirimanne will probably get another shot in the test team and he is probably a better player of pace than spin, but hard to say how he'll go because he has the ability to do well but often looks short of confidence and form at test level.
NZ should win, but if Sri Lanka win the right tosses and execute well then look out
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Yes it was, but 3 things:
a) Sri Lanka played the tests in June rather than May, and after an ODI series, so their players had a lot more opportunity to acclimatise than most recent early season touring sides, and the pitches were a lot flatter and dryer than you usually get for the "entree" tests;
b) Sri Lanka couldn't have possibly hoped for a better time to play England at home. New Zealand are a better team than the England side that SRL faced;
c) Mahela is gone now.
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Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
I'm a little concerned in this department now that Mahela is gone, I think he was really helping Matthews when it got tough at times and it remains to be seen how well Matthews holds up without him now
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OverratedSanity
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Fatty won't bag 14 in a game but toothless? Nah.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
This, our bowlers aren't good enough to rip through a decent batting line-up but they aren't pushovers and they'll stick to their guns