** Official ** Sri Lanka in New Zealand tour

[Langeveldt]

Come on NZ.. Lets have some Tuffey..

 

[cric_manic]

another wicket 36/4

 

[Loony BoB]

R/R of 2.89 after 18 overs... I wish I could watch this game in the UK. NZ doing well.

 

[Elvi]

R/R of 2.89 after 18 overs... I wish I could watch this game in the UK. NZ doing well.

I know what you mean... thought I'd be able to watch it on SKY here in London but they're only showing Oz/Pakistan and SA/England.

Thrilled about the Kiwis doing so well early on though.
:-)

 

[Loony BoB]

Cairns has Jayasuriya out for 43, Sri Lanka lacking players who can stick around here, looking good for NZ with SL at 72/5!

EDIT: And you'd think UK would at least have this game on PPV, but nope - nothing!

 

[cric_manic]

vettori to bowl this will be interesting

 

[Loony BoB]

Ooh, someone in NZ! What's the pitch like?

 

[cric_manic]

moving around a bit but thats from good bowling,pitch will get better later on,the new ball will get old soon on this pitch as it is hrd and a bit rough, sri lanka making it hard for them selves

 

[Kent]

I'm just about fed up with Eden Park as a venue. I don't know if they've delibrately tried to get more pace and bounce into this pitch or if it's just all the rain, but the ball has done too much for the first day of a test match, let alone an ODI.

It's nothing against him personally, but I hate watching Tuffey bowl in conditions like this. Even after so many months away and working with Richard Hadlee on his technique etc., he's still sending down a scrambled seam and waiting for the one that jags in or jags away in a completely random fashion. What makes it worse is a commentator saying things like "wow, he's followed up a beautiful off-cutter with a superb leg-cutter! What a brilliant comeback this is!"

Before critics start with the "NZ's pitches turn bad just in time for more subcontinental guests!" though, I'm pretty confident this is just an Auckland thing. Napier (on the east coast and largely shielded from wet weather which typically hits NZ from the northwest) should have a superb batting track.

 

[Loony BoB]

I'm just about fed up with Eden Park as a venue. I don't know if they've delibrately tried to get more pace and bounce into this pitch or if it's just all the rain, but the ball has done too much for the first day of a test match, let alone an ODI.

It's nothing against him personally, but I hate watching Tuffey bowl in conditions like this. Even after so many months away and working with Richard Hadlee on his technique etc., he's still sending down a scrambled seam and waiting for the one that jags in or jags away in a completely random fashion. What makes it worse is a commentator saying things like "wow, he's followed up a beautiful off-cutter with a superb leg-cutter! What a brilliant comeback this is!"

Before critics start with the "NZ's pitches turn bad just in time for more subcontinental guests!" though, I'm pretty confident this is just an Auckland thing. Napier (on the east coast and largely shielded from wet weather which typically hits NZ from the northwest) should have a superb batting track.

I actually enjoy it. I'd rather a game where low scores are made and 40 overs barely reached by a side than a match where it's 340+, which few people ever complain about. Cricket should be played on all sorts of pitches - this is just one sort of those pitches. It's a nice change from the huge amount of batter-friendly wickets I've watched games on this year.

 

[Kent]

Sure give the bowlers something to work with - pace in the pitch, bounce, a bit of turn etc., but don't make it a lolly-scramble for scrambled seam trundlers!

I've always been a batsman who bowls a bit so maybe that prejudices my opinion, but I hate it when bowlers are getting regular success for deliveries when even they clearly didn't know what the ball was going to do.

I'll always prefer games of skill over games of chance. Win or lose, NZ received a massive advantage in this match through a simple coin toss.

 

[cric_manic]

do u get upset with the bounce in perth? or the fact that indian pitches turn
or england pitches are largly bowler friendly? what im trying to say is that everyone gets upset at nz pitches from moving around early but look around the world and all pitches support the home nation in some way

 

[Loony BoB]

Fleming with 1 off 19 balls currently has a strike rate of 5.26 xD Luckily Sinclair is doing better.

 

[cric_manic]

if nz bat the first 15 overs without losing another wicket it should be all over for sri lanka

 

[JASON]

Congratulations to the Black Caps on a clinical and brilliant performance !!
Tuffey,Cairns, Mills and Vettori have all bowled well and what a knock by Steven Fleming after starting a bit sketchy !!

Winning the toss is a big bonus in NZ conditions and goes a long way to winning the game !! But SL also batted poorly !! I guess the Toss will be crucial in all of the ODI games in this series ! In fact I will say the Hamilton Test is likely to finish in 2 days and quite possibly 4 -5 sessions if NZ win the toss and put SL into bat !!


Sri Lankans were very disappointing !!

Their Coach and Manager it appears were ready to use the underprepared excuse even before the game started without trying to organise and play any extra practice games on the days between the two washouts !!

They also selected the wrong Team IMO. They needed another batter instead of playing 4 seamers and Chandana, thus weakening an already underprepared batting line up. IMO they needed an extra batter and having selected Arnold rather than any of the other in form batsmen, they found it too risky to play Arnold without playing him the trial games !! So the result they chose to play Chandana !!

On today's performance, they need Murali urgently if they are to compete with NZ on an even footing!!

Kulasekera bowled beautifully and Maharoof is not an all rounder !! In fact he neither batted nor bowled well enough to deserve an all rounder tag !! I would say he is neither !!
IMO SL need Zoysa also urgently back in their line up for Napier , and get Murali into the Team for at least the 3rd ODI.
For second ODI, SL should play Zoysa and Arnold and drop Jayantha and Maharoof or Chandana and Maharoof.

 

[Richard Rash]

Pitch was fine. Sri Lanka just batted poorly. If NZ had have batted first they still would have won. They were simply the better team on the day.

 

[anzac]

good confident boosting start for NZL in the series..............
Tuffey seemed to add that bit of experience / seniority that the bowling line up had been missing...........

from what little I managed to see it appeared to me that the pitch was actually better than those last season - I realise they are using the same drop in pitches over a couple of seasons, but it didn't seem to move excessively & the pace & bounce were consistant & reasonable compared to some matches last season...........

as with most ODIs there is always early movement in the air & off the deck with the new ball, but the worst I've seen for a while were those in IND with the TVS cup where early morning due decided what was going to happen at the toss, and who ever won the toss bowled & then won the game...............

I'll be interested to see how Astle & Styris go thru' the series.........
great to see Flem post a dominating innings & good partnership with Sinclair........

 

[Kent]

I really feel for the Sri Lankans. Hopefully they do stay, and perhaps the proceeds of an ODI can go towards disaster relief.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3140352a11,00.html

Worried Sri Lankan team to discuss tour future
27 December 2004

Sri Lankan cricket team management will meet with their players later today and consult with their national board to decide whether their New Zealand tour will continue after devastating floods hit their homeland.


Manager Brendon Kuruppu said this morning the team would fly to Napier as planned just after noon today before any decision was made. He wouldn't say whether cancelling the tour was a likely option.

The players had a "nightmare" after news of the tidal waves and floods yesterday, soon after their seven-wicket loss to New Zealand in the tour opener at Eden Park here.

Kuruppu also revealed a player's mother was among the injured after she was hit by floodwater, although he wouldn't name the player or how serious the mother's injuries were.

"We are really worried but we need to speak to the guys and see how we take it (the tour) from here," Kuruppu said today.

"It's a disaster in Sri Lanka, we're in shock and having a nightmare."

Kuruppu said nearly all the team had now made contact with their families back home, which has eased their minds.

His phone had been ringing non-stop, and he was now waiting until later in the day to speak again with his Sri Lankan board back home to discuss further plans.

"I need to think a lot about it," he said.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to meet New Zealand in the second one-day international at Napier's McLean Park on Wednesday

 

[dinu23]

Pitch was fine. Sri Lanka just batted poorly. If NZ had have batted first they still would have won. They were simply the better team on the day.

if NZ had batted first they would have found themselves in trouble just like SL. the pitch had dried up and the nip it had in the morning had gone when Astle and Fleming came to bat.

Nevertheless, credit should be given to the NZ bowlers. they bowled brilliantly.

 

[nookie_lk]

I think they should continue the tour...and the officials should send some of the income made from the tickets to people who were affected in Sri lanka and everywhere else...
Its a black Monday morning over here in Sri lanka....