*Official* New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2019

[The Hutt Rec]

Omg thank goodness the light held out! What a win!!!

Feel for Dickwella though.

 

[NZTailender]

ah the old wagner routine


**** yeaaaaah way to win a match in like 3 days

 

[morgieb]

Glad New Zealand were able to beat the rain. Other than the DdS knock they dominated the Test.

**** two Test series though. A third Test would've been great here.

 

[Flem274*]

yes boys

fitting for boult to get it. he's bowled with lionhearted effort all series.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

We're gonna win.

Aged like a fine wine.

 

[straw man]

Yeesss!! Very pleased with that win, would've been dire to come out of this match without the victory having played this well. First test was a little mediocre but this was a good performance.

Not for the first time in Sri Lanka, all set up beautifully for a non existent third test.

 

[Flem274*]

**** me why is there no 3rd test. Sri Lanka have been more of a challenge than expected and our guys are just figuring out conditions now. Test #3 would be a cracker.

they were always going to be hard. they're at home, they just beat sa in sa (something we can't do) and they're gun in these conditions.

 

[Moss]

Three test series between NZ and SL haven't been a thing since 1998 as far as I can remember. Too bad, there have been some memorable tests along the way.

Given the relative standings of the teams in 2012 the equalizing win at the PSara back then is still the bigger achievement, but this was one is at least as satisfying given the variables NZ had to contend with.

 

[Athlai]

Yeah SL has some genuine guns in their team right now. Will be interesting to see if they develop into genuine greats or if they'll be all promise.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Can we please replace three pointless t20s with a third test?

Those t20s lack context imo, get rid of them.

 

[Flametree]

Sri Lanka are a weirdly unpredictable team these days. They get these great wins and you think "oh, they're going to survive the loss of Murali, Sanga, Herath etc"... and then you see Thirimanne is in the side for the next series.

.

 

[Moss]

Yeah SL has some genuine guns in their team right now. Will be interesting to see if they develop into genuine greats or if they'll be all promise.

Need to get Chandimal and perhaps Roshen Silva back in IMO, and figure out a replacement for Thirimanne. Bowling will definitely keep them competitive, kept NZ in check for the most part until Latham and Watling each played out of their skins this test.

 

[Bahnz]

Great win! The team definitely needed that as a palette cleanser after the WC final. Good to see that Trent and Kane will now get a break for a couple months ahead of the big season coming up.

Series rankings
Watling 9 calm behind the stumps and immovable at the crease as ever from the WPWB.
Latham 9 the first time he's ever won us a test? Either way, a great series here's hoping he can kick on, we'll need him to make runs this summer.
Boult 8 lionhearted indeed, will be fun watching him hunt down Hadlee's 431 over the next 5 years.
CdG 8 wickets, 6's and swagger. As long as there's not a leggy in the oppo teamsheet Lord Colin should always be played.
Southee 7.5 innocuous in the first test, but excellent here. Still have doubts about his long term wicket taking potential while he's locked at 130kmh.
Patel 7 went missing on the crucial 4th evening at Galle, but otherwise a good series.
Sommerville 7 see above, and his batting also proved very handy.
Taylor 6 played as he tends to do in Asia these days. A fine (if chancy) counter-punching innings followed by a series of frustratingly unnecessary dismissals.
Nicholls 5 gritty contributions that sadly he didn't build on;
Santner 2 has probably killed his test career (or at least put it on ice for a few years). On the rare occasions where we look to play 3 spinners, Tastle should be the first choice spin-rounder from now on.
Raval 2 a poor series, and questions may start to be asked given how poorly he performed against England last year.
KW 1 needs a break, and thankfully he's getting one.

 

[Athlai]

Great win! The team definitely needed that as a palette cleanser after the WC final. Good to see that Trent and Kane will now get a break for a couple months ahead of the big season coming up.

Series rankings
Watling 9 calm behind the stumps and immovable at the crease as ever from the WPWB.
Latham 9 the first time he's ever won us a test? Either way, a great series here's hoping he can kick on, we'll need him to make runs this summer.
Boult 8 lionhearted indeed, will be fun watching him hunt down Hadlee's 431 over the next 5 years.
CdG 8 wickets, 6's and swagger. As long as there's not a leggy in the oppo teamsheet Lord Colin should always be played.
Southee 7.5 innocuous in the first test, but excellent here. Still have doubts about his long term wicket taking potential while he's locked at 130kmh.
Patel 7 went missing on the crucial 4th evening at Galle, but otherwise a good series.
Sommerville 7 see above, and his batting also proved very handy.
Taylor 6 played as he tends to do in Asia these days. A fine (if chancy) counter-punching innings followed by a series of frustratingly unnecessary dismissals.
Nicholls 5 gritty contributions that sadly he didn't build on;
Santner 2 has probably killed his test career (or at least put it on ice for a few years). On the rare occasions where we look to play 3 spinners, Tastle should be the first choice spin-rounder from now on.
Raval 2 a poor series, and questions may start to be asked given how poorly he performed against England last year.
KW 1 needs a break, and thankfully he's getting one.

???????????????????????????

Absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess

 

[Bahnz]

???????????????????????????

Absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess

Who would you have as a third spinner ahead of him? Sodhi doesn't offer as much with the bat (or the ball tbh). And as we saw here, Santner's darts are just surplus to requirements when we've already got Somers Sommerville and Ajaz in the team.

 

[Athlai]

Santa + Sodhi + Ravindra are the only other spinners we should be talking about in the next 2-3 years. Thought it was clear in Hamilton that Williamson thinks hes a total and complete spud.

 

[Athlai]

If we were trying to win a game with spin I think you'd take the punt on something like

Boult
CDG
Ajaz
Somerville
Sodhi

(maybe Neesham fits into that team too but I'd just do the above)

 

[Bahnz]

KW thinks all spinners are spuds, and Ravindra for all the hype is still a couple years away (and probably longer when it comes to his bowling). Sodhi's had vastly more rope over the years than Tastle and has hanged himself a dozen times over. He bowled himself out of my reckoning during last years tour of the emirates, he was garbage. Tastle at least has (small) contributions to a couple of wins in his resume. The fact that he took a bit of stick on a day 4 seamy road shouldn't distract from that.

 

[Flem274*]

tastle is ten million miles ahead of sodhi and santa as a test match spinner athers. for all the condescension tastle gets on here and elsewhere for only getting nz fc batsmen out, santa can't even do that because he isn't good enough and sodhi only a few rare times.

 

[Bahnz]

tastle is ten million miles ahead of sodhi and santa as a test match spinner athers. for all the condescension tastle gets on here and elsewhere for only getting nz fc batsmen out, santa can't even do that because he isn't good enough and sodhi only a few rare times.

Sodhi tbf has dominated Plunket Shield in the past couple seasons, but it's clearly not translating to the international arena as of yet.