***Official** Sri Lanka in New Zealand

[Natman20]

Franklin shouldn't be anywhere near the ODI side and i wouldn't care less if he wasnt selected for the world cp squad. Why do the selectors think they need to rest Fleming for so long? There is hardly any logical reason for it. I am guessing the selectors will look at James MArshalls innings and say this guy needs to stay but I think his results would fail like previously. Gillespie impresses me because unlike other bowlers he comes steaming in and looks aggressive which is a quality we need in our bowlers. He could prove to be our next strike sort of bowler a sort of role that Cairns used to play where they come in second change and bowl aggresively to take the vital wikets.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Franklin really can't bowl in ODI matches. He's not accurate, he's medium-fast pace, he doesn't swing it, he doesn't seam it, he can't cut it, he's useless as a ODI bowler.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Franklin is showing his worth with the bat but he's in the team primarily as a bowler.

Surely you're making stronger reference to Test than ODI cricket, considering that Franklin still has only passed 30 in ODI cricket on one occasion.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Franklin just doesn't know what to do in one day matches with the ball. He has tried steaming in off his long run and trying to swing the ball and he just gets hammered due to his poor accuracy. He has also tried coming in off a shorter run-up and bowling 125km/h cutters, but his accuracy still isn't great and he gets belted due to the distinct lack of pace or movement.

He's not exactly economical in any form of cricket though. He's more expensive than Brett Lee in Test cricket, so it's not as though it's some huge mystery as to why he goes for runs in ODI cricket. He's simply not an economical bowlers. And apparently he doesn't get as much from the white ball as he does from the red ball, because he can't take ODI wickets either.

Given that he averages 33.07 in List-A cricket, when many New Zealand batsmen average <30 in their List-A careers, I don't hesitate to guess that he simply is not cut out for one-day cricket... yet. Let him learn to bowl in domestic one-day cricket first.

 

[Jono]

Or NZ cricket does not think this series is that important .. ie they don't care what happens in this series so long as NZ puts out its best team for the Commonwealth Bank Series ...

That should be enough reason for SL to prove that they deserve to be respected with the best Team on the park.

To be perfectly honest, looking at the SL players' faces after the loss to NZ on the last ball, I don't think they care that much either. Mind you, that doesn't mean they're not trying or anything before someone jumps down my neck, just saying they're just a whole lot of ODIs in NZ, which they did only last year.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Let him learn to bowl in domestic one-day cricket first.

To be honest, with some of the tripe he was serving up yesterday, he wouldn't trouble some of my club batsmen.

 

[JASON]

Start likely to be delayed .... rain overnight ... looks likely to be stop start game ..winning toss will be very crucial and could be match winning just by itself ...

 

[Lostman]

Fernando and Perera come in for Vaas and Malinga! If SL want to win this they would need about 350.

 

[JBH001]

Its not another seamer is it?

I do not think the SL batsmen will make much of a competitive score if it seams and swings about early, as it did in Queenstown.

(I see NZ have won the toss and elected to bowl first...)

 

[NZTailender]

Has it started yet? For some reason radiosport is covering the tennis?

 

[superkingdave]

nah slightdelay but NZ won the toss and SL will bat first. Not much of a crowd

 

[Perm]

They were just about to come out onto the field and then the rain started, expect showers throughout the day. New Zealand should be able to dominate the Sri Lankan attack with Fernando and Perera playing, but from Simon Doull's pitch report the ball might hold up a little bit so expect Muralitharan to be a bigger factor than usual.

 

[NZTailender]

With Jaya gone early the task for Sri Lanka will be heavier. It's great that we've got him for a duck, though Marvan seems to be in good touch today.

 

[The Baconator]

Might as well put this on seeing as it's raining in Sydney. Decent start for NZ, need to get Sangakkara soon though.

 

[Jono]

During the rain break they were showing highlights of the MASSIVE opening partnership Jayasuriya and Tharanga put on vs. England. That was the first time I saw any footage of it, and my God, that was ridiculous. They were hitting almost every ball. I mean to chase 320+ in 40-odd overs, ridiculous.

Then when the footage came back live to NZ, one NZ commentator (Smith maybe) said "that was a big partnership, however today they put on 0"

 

[_Ed_]

McCullum's catch to get Tharanga out was unbelievable, one of the best wicketkeeper catches I've seen.

Haven't watched much of the match apart from that though, I was too busy enjoying the rare phenomenon of a NZ tennis player winning a match.

 

[_Ed_]

Murali at 9 - worst SL lower-order in some time I'd imagine.

 

[Perm]

Sri Lanka teetering at 70/6, Michael Mason has one more over to try and get a 5'fer. Brilliant catch by McCullum but Sangakkara and Atapattu got themselves out.

 

[James]

What's the pitch like guys? A seamers paradise?

 

[_Ed_]

Looks a better batting pitch than Queenstown was to me.