*Official* Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand 2018/19

[SillyCowCorner1]

I thought it was a tarp

 

[Fuller Pilch]

They're playing. 2 quick wickets and some wind to blow away the rain might make it interesting

 

[straw man]

There's always a chance the rain just decides to go around the Basin instead of over it, I guess.

There's always a chance too, that this pair just bats the whole of today as well. Should make it a timeless test imo.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I think there’s got to be some questions asked of the ground staff as the Basin after this ... especially if this is the same crew that turns out the constant clunkers at Westpac Stadium.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Are they gonna take lunch?

 

[Days of Grace]

Forget it. You could play for 30 more days on this ****ing thing and not take a wicket.

NZ has one of their best ever teams but their home pitches won’t allow them to win anything.

Maybe make NZ tests timeless?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

You're on to something

 

[NZTailender]

Makes the series more interesting and full credit to the two batsman on an epic fightback. On that alone they pretty much deserve to draw.

Gutted we won't go #2 now.

 

[Migara]

Classic murky drizzly day. The only interest this morning might be a few nose-to-tails and angry drivers on that road next to the Basin road.

GW Sri Lanka. Now go into the next match, bowl first, nip out an opener and strangle Williamson down the legside and start to dream of a series win.

We have done it before, when Vaas and Murali were together in 1995. Vaas was literally unplayable in some sessions in that series.

 

[Athlai]

Makes the series more interesting and full credit to the two batsman on an epic fightback. On that alone they pretty much deserve to draw.

Gutted we won't go #2 now.

Disagree with this. Rain is always a dire way to end a match. Sri Lanka grinding us to dust for two days would've been a great way to deserve the draw. Getting halfway there before losing a day of play is just a disappointing end to a match IMO.

 

[Mike5181]

I think there’s got to be some questions asked of the ground staff as the Basin after this ... especially if this is the same crew that turns out the constant clunkers at Westpac Stadium.

Latham, Williamson, Matthews, and Mendis have batted exceptionally well, take nothing away from them. But a pitch like this should genuinely receive a pitch rating of 'unfit' or at least 'poor'.

 

[Migara]

Disagree with this. Rain is always a dire way to end a match. Sri Lanka grinding us to dust for two days would've been a great way to deserve the draw. Getting halfway there before losing a day of play is just a disappointing end to a match IMO.

This would have been ideal. Us batting the whole day and making sure Southee, Wagner and Boult are not fresh for the next encounter, if we happen to bat first.

 

[Maximas]

The blueprint is the 2014 tour of England, we got away with a draw at Lords after a few of the more experienced batsmen made runs (mind you the bowlers fared a bit better - particularly in the 2nd innings).

Then in the 2nd test despite falling behind we piled on runs in the 2nd innings (largely thanks to Matthews) and some Prasad magic late on day 4 and a long grind on day 5 resulted in a 2nd last ball win.

What kind of pitch are we expecting in Christchurch?

 

[Maximas]

This would have been ideal. Us batting the whole day and making sure Southee, Wagner and Boult are not fresh for the next encounter, if we happen to bat first.

Given the next test is a week away they should be able to have a decent recovery, they'll probably have their sleeping patterns under control too, confidence and momentum is what we can carry forward from here however

 

[Fuller Pilch]

So KDub got 91 against SL in good batting conditions in a high scoring draw and Kohli got 123 and 17 in tough conditions vs the Aus attack in a loss.

I wonder how this will impact the player ratings (KDub 9 points behind Kohli) - the Australians would love it if they could talk about VK as the former best player in the world.

It will also be interesting to see what ranking Latham moves to from current ranking of 37th. Should be in the top 20 at least.

Nicholls (9th), Taylor (16th) got exactly 50 so will probably remain stable or rise slightly, while Watling (22nd) will drop a bit after his duck.

All the NZ bowlers except Southee may drop though. CDG might rise in the a/r rankings

 

[Migara]

I don't think we have a chance on a flat pitch with three seamers and Perera. If we were to win on a flat bed, we have to bat first, pile on runs, and somehow manage to set a target of excess of 150. If Perera and Sandakan get some turn off the pitch, that will not be very easy to handle.

Otherwise, we have to bowl on a green seamer and shoot out NZ for a low score. Even then, there will be enough on the pitch for Southee and Boult to shoot us out.Losing Akhila Dhanajaya was massive, especially when we need to play on unresponsive wickets. Although not a massive spinner, his variations would ahve kept batsmen very honest.

 

[Migara]

It will also be interesting to see what ranking Latham moves to from current ranking of 37th. Should be in the top 20 at least.

It's likely that Mathews and Mendis will gain more points than Latham given the relative quality of the bowling attacks.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

The blueprint is the 2014 tour of England, we got away with a draw at Lords after a few of the more experienced batsmen made runs (mind you the bowlers fared a bit better - particularly in the 2nd innings).

Then in the 2nd test despite falling behind we piled on runs in the 2nd innings (largely thanks to Matthews) and some Prasad magic late on day 4 and a long grind on day 5 resulted in a 2nd last ball win.

What kind of pitch are we expecting in Christchurch?

It can swing a lot early, but also flatten out.

McCullum got the fastest ever test 100 there vs Aus and just missed out on the fastest ever 200 vs SL (195 off 134 balls)

This was also where Sodhi and Wagner batted for hours to draw vs England earlier this year

 

[Fuller Pilch]

It's likely that Mathews and Mendis will gain more points than Latham given the relative quality of the bowling attacks.

That's true. Mendis and Matthews are already 20th and 24th respectively, so don't have as far to rise

 

[Migara]

Then we might see Sandakan playing. If he hits his lengths well, then it could be interesting. If he gets it all wrong, then it would be end of it.