** Official ** Sri Lanka in New Zealand tour

[Ming]

If that the case then why did you say in the last test that Sri Lanka tail started from 7, when Chandana and Vaas are clearly not tailenders. Is it one rule for them and another rule for us. . I was refering more to their abilities to be all rounders, ie in the side for batting as well as bowling. All three are meant to be in the side for their bowling not really their batting.



Does that clarify things there Ming.

Yes it does.

Good win by NZers, good to see Martin and Franklin getting some wickets in this SL series.

 

[JASON]

Overall more negatives then postives came out of this series aganist NZ. Batsmen once again as a whole failed on a ptich that provided assistant to pace. Not much support bowling from Chandana, Maharoof, Kulasekara and Hearth. Jayasuiya was probably the pick of the bowlers outside Malinga and Vaas.

If anything this Test shows again SL reliance on Murali ! When he's there the batsmen do well, the support bowlers bowl well. He's basically the Key central figure and without him the whole Team collapses !! With him they are very good, without him they are rubbish !!

Chandana is not a Test bowler and should not be picked for his bits and pieces bowling and support batting ! He is essentially an ODI bits and pieces fella.

Same applies to Maharoof !! He fits the ODI bill. But at Test level found wanting badly !

Kulasekera has potential and if anything I was impressed by him and would encourage him and persevere with him !! He did bloody well on debut, despite not being rewarded due to dropped catches etc..

Jayasuriya needs to go down the order !! Age unfortunately is catching up fast with this guy ! And support bowling is not what he is in the Test Team for !!

On batting positive would have to be Thilan batting in both test, one batsmen that showed he can bat away from home on pitches that provide support.

Thilan needs to move up the order to 4 , IMO.

I don't think i will read too much into the batting performances in Napier as they were on a flat pitch.
We were slightly the better side at Napier, but we were no where near the mark at Basin

Agreed . And also against a pretty average bowling attack, too !! So it should be taken with a pinch of salt !!

And BTW, you were clamouring for the debutant guy called Kalavitigoda !! He has shown very little to suggest he deserves another chance ,if he can't capitalise on a flat track against a very average attack !! Ian Daniel deserves that spot IMO.

 

[Zinzan]

Anyone catch those highlights of Crowe at Lords in 1994 after the test.

Brilliant stroke play

 

[JASON]

Don Brash for Prime Minister

Georgina Bayer for Prime Minister

 

[Zinzan]

Georgina Bayer for Prime Minister

Right...that explains the teddy bear

 

[Blaze]

Congratulations to Black Caps, on a deserved win after a bad season !!
The Toss was a good one to win and from thereon Martin and Vincent contributed to a win !!



Yes, the Toss more or less took the game away from SL from the outset (with the pitch doing a bit ) !

No it didn't. You can't keep blaming everything else except your own team. First the umpires then the pitch. Sri Lanka could have got through the first session only one or two down and worked from there if they showed determination and grit but instead they were 5 down at lunch.

All that it showed was that Sri Lanka are not capable of batting well when the ball is doing a bit ( it wasn't even doing that much)

 

[shaka]

congrats to NZ, they really did need a victory, to slowly diminish the reminder of the Australian series. Why was there no man of the series?

 

[shaka]

Gee Astle looks awesome and back to his best in the bowling stakes

 

[cameeel]

Good confidence booster for NZ, a huge win should help wipe away memories of the series vs australia

 

[cameeel]

Who's their next opponents?

 

[psxpro]

Superb win.
NZ win the test and take the series 1-0.
I'd have to say the bowlers have proven they are better than people give credit for, especially Martin and Franklin, Sure they got done by the aussies but most bowlers do.
I think our bowling attack is pretty much on par with most teams. Just lacks the killer instinct at times.

Looking forward to the series in southafrica now, Do you guys think we can actually win there?
I really feel if we have everyone back, including bond we may have a chance. But it is very hard to win in southafrica.

 

[Blaze]

Who's their next opponents?

ZIM then SA

 

[Tim]

Whats good is that NZ are consistently reaching at least 400 in their first innings. But they're going to have to fix this 2nd innings problem if they want to win in South Africa.

 

[psxpro]

Whats good is that NZ are consistently reaching at least 400 in their first innings. But they're going to have to fix this 2nd innings problem if they want to win in South Africa.

Completely agree, i think our recent first innings performances must be as good as any team in the world. But we struggle to even get to 180 in the 2nd innings.

I really also think bowling first is a better option, I'd be more comfortable chasing 300 than defending 270 with this team in sa.
I think we would bat better in the 2nd innings if we knew what we had to get to win.

 

[Zinzan]

Hoping if nothing else NZ have learn't a lot from Australia this summer.

This test victory was almost an Australian like performance, a much more professional performance especially the bowling.

All we need now is for Bond, Vettori, Styris, Oram and Butler to be fit, then we have a pretty good squad that could push S.Africa at home.

 

[Sir Redman]

As usual I miss almost every ball of one of our best performances in recent times. Well done to our guys though, but it would have been interesting to seem how we'd have gone chasing even 180.
All the Sri Lankans here seem to think SL played like utter rubbish. I cant comment not having seen much play but did they really play that badly? How many of their batsmen got themselves out and how many were got out by good bowling? (not a rhetorical question by the way). The few highlights from the news showed some very good deliveries.

 

[Zinzan]

As usual I miss almost every ball of one of our best performances in recent times. Well done to our guys though, but it would have been interesting to seem how we'd have gone chasing even 180.
All the Sri Lankans here seem to think SL played like utter rubbish. I cant comment not having seen much play but did they really play that badly? How many of their batsmen got themselves out and how many were got out by good bowling? (not a rhetorical question by the way). The few highlights from the news showed some very good deliveries.

To be quite honest I think if anything NZ batsmen got themselves out just as much as sri lanka in this test. Fleming misplacing a hook shot, Mccullum pushing too hard for a caught and bowled, Vincent running him self out (although we forgive him ), Mills trying a big hit caught at mid-off and Cumming playing across a straight ball.

I actually thought in this test most sri lanka wickets were due to good probing bowling from Martin, Franklin and Astle.

 

[marc71178]

Hmmm .... The first time Ive Herd this one Please expand

Ignore him, he seems a little deluded and OTT at times.

 

[marc71178]

If that the case then why did you say in the last test that Sri Lanka tail started from 7

I think what I actually said was that it looks very weak from 7 down with those 2 there.

That is what I meant anyway.

 

[marc71178]

I gather now that most of the NZ players are heading off to County Cricket or the upper grades of club cricket in England. I believe that Hamish Marshall is close to getting a County contract too..

Out of interest, do you know which county?