Henry, Young give New Zealand thumping win in series opener
New Zealand chased down their target of 179 with nine wickets and 23.4 overs to spare
New Zealand 180 for 1 (Young 90*, Ravindra 45, Wickramasinghe 1-28) beat Sri Lanka 178 (Avishka 56, Liyanage 36, Henry 4-19) by nine wickets
New Zealand’s fast bowlers tore through Sri Lanka’s top order to set up a big win, before their own top three clinched it, Will Young hitting 90 not out off 86 balls in a nine-wicket victory.
On a grassy Basin Reserve pitch, on a cold day beset by biting southerlies, New Zealand had had Sri Lanka 23 for 4 by the end of the powerplay. There were resurgent innings from the likes of Avishka Fernando especially, but Sri Lanka never seemed headed to a healthy total. They were out for 178 in the 44th over. New Zealand ran that total down with 23.4 overs to spare.
It was Matt Henry who set the tone for the early exchanges with his first spell, and claimed the first wicket on his way to figures of 4 for 19 from ten overs. He caught Pathum Nissanka’s leading edge with a full away-seamer in the fifth over, the ball floating out to mid-off for a simple catch. In his first five overs, Henry seamed the ball substantially, and conceded only six runs.
At the other end, Jacob Duffy was delivering probing overs as well. He took the second wicket with a short delivery that surprised Kusal Mendis, and which he inside edged into his leg stump. Three overs later, Kamindu Mendis – batting at No. 4 now – was run out attempting a suicidal single. Dropping a ball towards cover he called his partner through for a run, only for Mitchell Santner to swoop on the ball, and fire in an underarm throw that hit the base of the only stump Santner had to aim at. In general, New Zealand’s fielding was exemplary, with Mark Chapman also outstanding in the point region. On the rare occasions, New Zealand’s quicks strayed in the early overs, an act of spectacular fielding would tend to ensure the pressure stayed on Sri Lanka.
The last wicket to fall in the powerplay was that of captain Charith Asalanka, who initially only seemed to be beaten by a sharply rising Nathan Smith delivery outside off stump, only for Smith to insist on the review, and for Snicko to show that the ball had brushed the shoulder of the bat. Asalanka, so often the batter who arrests Sri Lanka collapses, was out for a duck.
This brought Janith Liyanage to the crease to join Avishka, and the pair set about the repair work, finding boundaries square of the wicket after much of the seam movement of the early overs had disappeared. Avishka played the short balls well through the middle period, as New Zealand’s seamers switched occasionally to that mode of attack. In any case, the pair put on 87 together, Avishka scoring his ninth ODI fifty, before Liyanage miscued a Mitchell Santner ball to deep midwicket and was out for 36.
Sri Lanka had contributions from Wanindu Hasaranga, who hit 35, and Chamindu Wickramasinghe, who made 22. But New Zealand always had Sri Lanka by the collar – no passage of retaliation lasted very long.
Given the trouble New Zealand’s quicks had given Sri Lanka, the chase was exceptionally smooth. Rachin Ravindra was strong on the front foot early on, finding six boundaries in the arc between backward point and mid-off. Young, meanwhile, was excellent whenever Sri Lanka’s bowlers pitched short, playing a number of powerful pulls and hooks. New Zealand were 70 for no loss at the end of the powerplay, Sri Lanka’s seamers guilty of a little indiscipline. There were no serious wicket chances, aside from one missed run-out by Asitha Fernando, who had fielded the ball in his follow-through.
Ravindra would be dismissed attempting an ambitious leg-side flick off a full delivery down the leg side, but the remainder of the chase was straightforward. Young continued to find those leg-side boundaries and sped past his tenth ODI half-century. Mark Chapman was a steady presence at the other end. Their unbeaten stand of 87 took the hosts home.
Sri Lanka (50 ovs maximum)
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Pathum Nissanka
c Santner b Henry
9 18 17 0 1 50.00
Avishka Fernando
c Phillips b Smith
56 63 123 6 1 88.88
Kusal Mendis †
b Duffy
2 8 7 0 0 25.00
Kamindu Mendis
run out (Santner)
3 9 13 0 0 33.33
Charith Asalanka (c)
c †Hay b Smith
0 5 4 0 0 0.00
9.5 beaten outside off. Sri Lanka can’t afford another wicket here. This is a back of-a length ball that takes off, and Asslanka is caught on the crease as he plays a defensive shot. But wait, what’s this? Maybe that hasn’t passed the bat? Smith had really been the only one to appeal, but makes his case forcefully enogh to a very relaxed Santner, who decides late to review this. And what do you know, snicko shows a spike as it passes the shoulder of Asalanka’s bat. Sri Lanka’s captain has to go, and New Zealand are all over Sri Lanka here. 23/4
Janith Liyanage
c sub (MG Bracewell) b Santner
36 54 73 4 1 66.66
Chamidu Wickramasinghe
c Young b Henry
22 42 58 2 0 52.38
Wanindu Hasaranga
c Santner b Henry
35 33 61 4 1 106.06
Eshan Malinga
c Santner b Henry
4 12 18 1 0 33.33
Lahiru Kumara
not out 1 10 16 0 0 10.00
Asitha Fernando
c †Hay b Duffy
2 8 8 0 0 25.00
Extras (w 8) 8
Total
43.4 Ov
(RR: 4.07, 201 Mins)
178
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Pathum Nissanka, 4.3 ov), 2-18 (Kusal Mendis, 5.6 ov), 3-23 (Kamindu Mendis, 8.6 ov), 4-23 (Charith Asalanka, 9.5 ov), 5-110 (Janith Liyanage, 25.3 ov), 6-110 (Avishka Fernando, 26.4 ov), 7-158 (Chamidu Wickramasinghe, 37.3 ov), 8-175 (Wanindu Hasaranga, 39.3 ov), 9-176 (Eshan Malinga, 41.3 ov), 10-178 (Asitha Fernando, 43.4 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON 0s 4s 6s WD NB
Matt Henry
10 1 19
4
1.90 46 1 0 0 0
Jacob Duffy
8.4 0 39
2
4.50 35 3 2 2 0
Nathan Smith
8 2 43
2
5.37 31 5 1 1 0
Will O’Rourke
10 1 50 0 5.00 41 6 1 5 0
Mitchell Santner
7 0 27
1
3.85 25 2 0 0 0
New Zealand (T: 179 runs from 50 ovs)
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Will Young
not out 90 86 132 12 0 104.65
Rachin Ravindra
c Hasaranga b Wickramasinghe
45 36 66 6 1 125.00
Mark Chapman
not out 29 36 66 3 0 80.55
Extras (lb 1, w 15) 16
Total
26.2 Ov
(RR: 6.83, 132 Mins)
180/1
Did not bat:
Daryl Mitchell,
Glenn Phillips,
Mitchell Hay †,
Mitchell Santner (c),
Nathan Smith,
Matt Henry,
Jacob Duffy,
Will O’Rourke
Fall of wickets: 1-93 (Rachin Ravindra, 12.3 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON 0s 4s 6s WD NB
Asitha Fernando
6 0 33 0 5.50 20 4 0 2 0
Lahiru Kumara
6 0 48 0 8.00 18 7 0 2 0
Eshan Malinga
5 0 41 0 8.20 15 5 1 4 0
Wanindu Hasaranga
6 0 29 0 4.83 20 3 0 0 0
Chamidu Wickramasinghe
3.2 0 28
1
8.40 6 2 0 2 0
