***Official** Sri Lanka in New Zealand

[JASON]

What a Champagne knock from Sanath J and supported well by Tharanga.

Have to say the NZ bowling was awful. Adams first ball which went for 4 wides said it all!!

SL's run scoring spree has to be taken in a correct perspective given this must be the weakest Kiwi bowling ataack I have ever seen (made worse by Astle injury) and a pitch where had SL batted first the par score would've been 340-350 .

For Queenstown , the pitch will be the opposite and SL should consider playing Maharoof in place of Dilshan or even Murali ...(now I know some will raise their eye brows but Queenstown pitch is a very seamy low scorer made worse on a cloudy day ).

Vaas and the spinners bowled well to peg back NZ.
Malinga's role in ODIs IMO is pretty clear . He should bowl a few overs at the start , but then he should held back to bowl those toe crunchers at the death from overs 40-50.

From NZ perspective, I don't understand Rotational policy if it mens you put yourself at risk of getting cleaned out. Graham Henry's rotational policy never involves weakening team to the point of losing Tests ....

NZ's best Batter and Best Bowler are rested while the next best bowler (Mills) is injured. And other ODI stalwarts (Styris/Oram) are injured as well. That's a suicide policy not rotational policy.

MacMillan a batsman currently in some form needs consideration ... What a brilliant knock by Ross Taylor a real gem of a knock from a very young cricketer whose placement and strokeplay was beautiful to watch...That will be the only positive for NZ from this ODI.

 

[Sir Redman]

My god, that's possibly the worst bowling performance I've ever seen. 5 balls each over were short and wide, half-volleys or down leg side. Off memory, Lankans were 180-0 after just 22 overs when I left for work. Absolutely pathetic. Takes me back to the days of Heath Davis and Michael Owen.

Anyway, positives from this game: Taylor, obviously, and also Astle hitting some form. Though he should have been caught off that skier.

 

[marc71178]

Yeah a bowling line-up of Bond, Mills, Gillespie (without the gitters), Oram, Vettori and possibly Patel looks pretty solid.

I very much doubt you'd see all 6 of those would you?

Add McCullum and there's only room for 4 batsmen.

 

[marc71178]

My god, that's possibly the worst bowling performance I've ever seen. 5 balls each over were short and wide, half-volleys or down leg side. Off memory, Lankans were 180-0 after just 22 overs when I left for work.

Sounds eerily familiar to one game we had against them earlier this year. Problem is that was pretty much our first choice attack!

 

[_Ed_]

Sounds eerily familiar to one game we had against them earlier this year. Problem is that was pretty much our first choice attack!

Jayasuriya was the culprit that time too wasn't he?

Sure we had a weak bowling attack and performed very poorly with the ball, but he is an extraordinary ODI batsman. He hit the ball so cleanly today, it was unbelievable, found myself enjoying it even though NZ was on the receiving end.

Hope this puts an end to the rotation policy. Rotating Vincent/H Marshall/Fulton at number 5 when they're all in form might not be a bad idea but today showed how shallow our pool of bowling talent is.

 

[Tim]

Well we're practically giving this series to Sri Lanka. I don't mind a bit of experimentation for now, but once we hit the Commonwealth bank series I expect to see our first pick side out on the park every single game. From the players they've been picking, this is the side i'd start with for the series with Aus and Eng:

McCullum
Astle
Fleming
Taylor
Fulton
Styris
McMillan
Oram
Vettori
Mills
Bond

I know a few will be surprised to see Macca there, but I think he can do a better job of the slog overs than the Marshall Brothers. Another option would be to leave out either Macca or Fulton and play Gillespie or Patel. It's a bit of a concern because I had to really think hard about this team, coming into World Cup year it should be easy to pick your 11.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Ross Taylor = Gun
Jayasuriya = Ultra-Gun

Great knock by Taylor, hits the ball pretty hard and far for a small bloke, Jayasuriya is just a total Legend, NZ bowling sucks though.

 

[Bahnz]

I very much doubt you'd see all 6 of those would you?

Add McCullum and there's only room for 4 batsmen.

It's not as bad when you consider that Oram and Vettori are both allrounders, but yes you certainly wouldn't pick all 6. The 5th spot would go to Gillespie or Patel, depending on the pitch, so that a frontline side for the world cup would look like

Fleming
Astle
Taylor
Marshall
Styris
Oram
McCullum
Vettori
Mills
Bond
Gillespie/Patel

I really think Patel is a player who is going to struggle to get game time in his career, due to a combination of Daniel Vettori and New Zealand pitches. It's a pity, he was the one good thing to come out of the 'Super-sub' debacle.

Until Mills, Oram and Styris are fit, the side should be.

Fleming
Astle
Taylor
Marshall
McMillan
McCullum
Vettori
Franklin
Bond
Gillespie
Patel

 

[aussie]

gotta love that man Jayasuriya, geez what carnage...

 

[Beleg]

I will throw in a word of applause for Vaas. His opening spell was as prime an example of left hand in-swing bowling as you'll ever see. He totally made Astle resemble a deer caught in the head-lights.

Malinga's problem, to an extent, is his pace.

 

[Fiery]

When Astle's hand comes right and he takes his 100th wicket (took his 99th back in March and has played 5 games since, so it's taking a while) he will be only the 6th player in history to have 7000 runs and 100 wickets after Aravinda de Silva, Jayasuyira, Kallis, Tendulkar and Steve Waugh. (Work is quiet)

 

[legglancer12]

Cricket: Murali criticism hypocrisy, says ex-captain
Friday December 29, 2006
By Richard Boock


Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe is defending himself against another attack from Sri Lankan interests, this time from his old adversary Arjuna Ranatunga.

Crowe, who queried the legality of Muttiah Muralitharan's wrong-'un during the second test in Wellington and sent film footage to the International Cricket Council unprompted, insists he did so - not out of spite - but for the greater good of the game.

"I wasn't being nasty or malicious. I've got a lot of respect for Sri Lankan cricket and I love the way they play the game," he said last night.

"I can understand Arjuna wanting to protect Murali and Sri Lanka's chance of success at the next World Cup but, from an independent viewpoint, I think the issue deserves to be discussed."

Crowe reiterated yesterday that he was startled only by Murali's doosra, or wrong-'un, and particularly the action employed on the first evening and the second morning of the second test.

The footage sent by Crowe will evidently be used by the ICC in a split-screen format to compare Murali's action during the Wellington test with the action he employed under laboratory testing.


Ranatunga yesterday questioned why Crowe didn't raise the matter in Christchurch when New Zealand were winning, instead of bringing it up when the home side were suffering a heavy defeat at Wellington.

"You don't wait till your team loses and then make a big hue and cry about it," said the former test captain.

"I had a lot of respect for Crowe as a player and as a gentleman. But I've got to say that I've lost that respect.

"He sounds more like an Australian now."

Ranatunga suggested hypocrisy and racism were behind the criticisms about his countryman's action.

"I feel sorry for Murali," he said. "He's got to put up with this kind of crap whenever he comes up with a good performance.

"If he'd been playing for Australia, New Zealand or England they would have hailed him as the greatest bowler ever to play the game.

"He would have been known as the genius who overcame deformity and became a star. But simply because he's an Asian, he's got to go through this."

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[TT Boy]

Just watched the highlights of the Sri Lankan innings and it was pretty much déjà vu of what we experienced in the summer. A second string bowling attack getting smashed to all parts, fantastic hitting from the Sri Lankan’s but poor ****ing bowling especially from Mason and Gillespie with the former also being ridiculously unattractive, looks like he should be in a Universal horror movie with Boris Karloff.

Though as I said great hitting from Sri Lanka especially Jayasuyira, give the man a tin pot bowling attack and he kill you. One day cricket will not be the same when he hangs up his boots up after the World Cup. Absolute champion cricketer and he made his job much easier with the bat by bowling ten fantastically tight overs (in the context of the game).

 

[Fiery]

Cricket: Murali criticism hypocrisy, says ex-captain
Friday December 29, 2006
By Richard Boock


Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe is defending himself against another attack from Sri Lankan interests, this time from his old adversary Arjuna Ranatunga.

Crowe, who queried the legality of Muttiah Muralitharan's wrong-'un during the second test in Wellington and sent film footage to the International Cricket Council unprompted, insists he did so - not out of spite - but for the greater good of the game.

"I wasn't being nasty or malicious. I've got a lot of respect for Sri Lankan cricket and I love the way they play the game," he said last night.

"I can understand Arjuna wanting to protect Murali and Sri Lanka's chance of success at the next World Cup but, from an independent viewpoint, I think the issue deserves to be discussed."

Crowe reiterated yesterday that he was startled only by Murali's doosra, or wrong-'un, and particularly the action employed on the first evening and the second morning of the second test.

The footage sent by Crowe will evidently be used by the ICC in a split-screen format to compare Murali's action during the Wellington test with the action he employed under laboratory testing.


Ranatunga yesterday questioned why Crowe didn't raise the matter in Christchurch when New Zealand were winning, instead of bringing it up when the home side were suffering a heavy defeat at Wellington.

"You don't wait till your team loses and then make a big hue and cry about it," said the former test captain.

"I had a lot of respect for Crowe as a player and as a gentleman. But I've got to say that I've lost that respect.

"He sounds more like an Australian now."

Ranatunga suggested hypocrisy and racism were behind the criticisms about his countryman's action.

"I feel sorry for Murali," he said. "He's got to put up with this kind of crap whenever he comes up with a good performance.

"If he'd been playing for Australia, New Zealand or England they would have hailed him as the greatest bowler ever to play the game.

"He would have been known as the genius who overcame deformity and became a star. But simply because he's an Asian, he's got to go through this."

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More by Richard Boock
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Ranatunga sounds like he's got a chip on both shoulders, once again calling "racist" about this issue when that has nothing to do with it at all and having a pot-shot at a hand-full of non-Asian countries. He was a detestable little fat git when he was playing and obviously hasn't changed much. I agree entirely with everything Crowe has to say on this matter and he's totally within his right to say it. I can just imagine an American who has never seen the game and just been explained the rules watching Murali and saying "I didn't think you were allowed to throw it like that ?"

 

[legglancer12]

Jayasuriya Barrage Blunts Taylor's Ton

29/12/2006NZPAThe master overshadowed the apprentice as Sanath Jayasuriya's pulverising 111 negated Ross Taylor's classy maiden one-day cricket century to rocket Sri Lanka to a resounding seven wicket victory in Napier on Thursday.

Set what appeared a challenging 286 for victory in the five-match series opener, Jayasuriya made embarrassingly light work of the task by pounding New Zealand's demoralised and understrength attack at will.

A 370-game veteran with a long history of flailing even the world's best credentialled attacks, the 37-year-old unleashed one of his more memorable massacres as he almost single handedly ensured Sri Lanka's run chase was well in control after just 10 overs.

By then the score had raced past triple figures and there was barely a slackening of that imposing scoring rate until the left hander's demise in the 25th over.

Jayasuriya's stunning assault relegated Taylor's potentially career-defining unbeaten 128 - in just his third game - to practically an afterthought despite slamming 12 boundaries and five sixes.

On one notable occasion the confines of McLean Park, one of the smaller grounds in international cricket, could not hold him and one damaged ball is still resting somewhere along Latham Street.

The former Sri Lankan captain's ability to savage all but stand-in skipper Daniel Vettori also threatened to erase the worthy contribution of Upul Tharanga, whose half century off 59 balls was positively mundane by comparison.

Jayasuriya raced to his 61st one-day 50 in just 39 balls and used an identical number of deliveries to double his score - raising his arms aloft when his fifth swatted six crashed into the stand at square leg over a despairing Andre Adams.

He then guided Michael Mason's next ball aerially between the Marshall twins to the point boundary for good measure.

Jayasuriya and Tharanga (68) were eventually separated on 201, as James Franklin struck in successive deliveries to offer the fielders some brief alternative to chasing the ball to the fence.

The openers amassed the biggest first wicket stand by allcomers against New Zealand in one-day history off just 24.1 overs - a mere 145 balls.

Jayasuriya was caught in the breadbasket by Mason and Tharanga, who crossed while the ball was in flight to third man, was edged to Brendon McCullum's gloves next ball.

The mini collapse stopped there however, as Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara coasted to within sight of the target before the latter was caught and bowled by Vettori to enable Marvan Atapattu to bypass the total on 289 with a a staggering 10.1 overs in hand.

New Zealand appeared to have compiled a defendable total on the back of Taylor's sublime 133-ball knock and a quickfire 83 from veteran Nathan Astle.

The Cantabrian clocked up his 41st fifty after reaching another milestone - 7000 one-day runs when on 39.

The pair added 151 for the second wicket at a respectable clip but when Jayasuriya nudged a Taylor drive onto the stumps at the bowler's end Astle was stranded six inches short of his ground.

Taylor brought up the 200 with a towering six in the 36th over but when Peter Fulton departed for 24 any prospect of a 300-plus score whittled away.

Only 23 runs were added in the following seven overs as Taylor slowed through the 90s while Vettori and James Marshall exited in successive balls.

 

[Tim]

I'll give the benefit of the doubt to Mason and Gillespie as they're new to international cricket. They'd probably have an easier transition too if they had Bond and Mills and maybe the backup of Styris in there. The concern is that after a number of ODI's, Franklin and Adams still look as though they haven't learned.

 

[JBH001]

It's not as bad when you consider that Oram and Vettori are both allrounders, but yes you certainly wouldn't pick all 6. The 5th spot would go to Gillespie or Patel, depending on the pitch, so that a frontline side for the world cup would look like

Fleming
Astle
Taylor
Marshall
Styris
Oram
McCullum
Vettori
Mills
Bond
Gillespie/Patel

I really think Patel is a player who is going to struggle to get game time in his career, due to a combination of Daniel Vettori and New Zealand pitches. It's a pity, he was the one good thing to come out of the 'Super-sub' debacle.

Until Mills, Oram and Styris are fit, the side should be.

Fleming
Astle
Taylor
Marshall
McMillan
McCullum
Vettori
Franklin
Bond
Gillespie
Patel

Yeah, Gillespie is not a bad bowler and looks to have something in him.
He certainly improved after his first couple of overs - but Mason and Adams both need to be turfed out of the side. Nothing of substance to offer by either of them.

As to playing 2 spinners (Vettori and Patel) I think that would be a mistake in this ODI era of Power Plays. Though making it hard(er) for all bowlers, it really makes it tough for spinners, and it was one of the reasons why Vettori, NZ's best bowler had to keep himself out of the attack at crucial times, as it works against him.

I dislike this rule and think it needs to be changed after the WC.

 

[Lostman]

As to playing 2 spinners (Vettori and Patel) I think that would be a mistake in this ODI era of Power Plays. Though making it hard(er) for all bowlers, it really makes it tough for spinners, and it was one of the reasons why Vettori, NZ's best bowler had to keep himself out of the attack at crucial times, as it works against him.

yea even SL who would play at least 2 spinners per game before the power plays has stopped this. I remember watching an ODI in SL where they played 4 fast bowlers and only 1 spinner.

 

[Fiery]

yea even SL who would play at least 2 spinners per game before the power plays has stopped this. I remember watching an ODI in SL where they played 4 fast bowlers and only 1 spinner.

4 fast bowlers and 1 spinner!? That's crazy talk

 

[Tim]

I think NZ will come back in the next game. The key is Jayasuriya. The Eden Park 20/20 game showed that alot of the other batsmen aren't quite as in form as Jayasuriya is and if Sanath is out early it could be a different story.

HOWEVER, the New Zealand bowlers will need to improve dramatically and also our middle order needs to step up particularly the Marshall twins.