10 reasons why NZ must be wary of Sri Lanka
1. Slinger Lasith Malinga cannot even make the Test squad, after a shambolic bowling effort against Pakistan (sample headline: "Wide ball slinger turns match loser"). The Sri Lankan team's former manager Neil Perera recently wrote a letter to a Sri Lankan paper in which he said: "Whether his sudden rise to fame and fortune could have upset his mental equilibrium is a matter that perhaps needs scrutiny...Perhaps the services of a Psychologist may be necessary to correct any suspected aberration."
2. Prolific opener Thilan Samaraweera has scored more runs than anyone on either side in Test cricket in the past year and is one of only 18 players who has never had his Test average dip below the magical 40.00 mark. Which New Zealanders are in this select group (minimum: 30 innings) you ask? None. Sammy's current average is a useful 49.86 - better than every New Zealander but still only good enough for bronze in his team behind Sangakkara and Jayawardene.
3. Captain Kumar Sangakkara is one of the best batsmen going around on the world scene at the moment, and Craig McMillan picked him as the bloke he would have out there on the day to bat for his life. (It was Chanderpaul for me.) Having plundered 570 runs in his last five Tests (all against Pakistan), the lippy left-handed Lankan is not going to see too much to scare him in the New Zealand bowling attack sans Shane Bond. Plus he has scored unbeaten centuries against the Kiwis in his last two Test match outings.
4. Unknown wicketkepper/opener Dinesh Chandimal scored a ton and a fifty against us this week. This chap is not only surplus to requirements in terms of the Sri Lankan Test squad, but he is only just out of nappies and up until he played New Zealand this week the 19-year-old had never even played first-class cricket.
5. The carrom delivery. See it here.
6. Thrashing Tillekeratne Dilshan: Looks set to open in a manner reminiscent of Chris Gayle. Uh-oh. Back from injury just in time to make the test team and in form too having spanked 68 from 60 balls, with a trio of sixes and eight fours. Will be looking to get his eye in before he comes Down Under to join Northern Districts and feast upon our local bowlers in the catchily named "New Zealand domestic Twenty20 competition". Looks like he had a cool wedding last year too.
7. Silky Mahela Jayawardene: His last six knocks against New Zealand do not make for pretty reading for Lankan supporters: 31, 0, 0, 8, 13 and 1. He is due for runs, and he is a lot more effective at home rather than on the road with his averages of 64.27 and 40.05 respectively. The former skipper has one of the best conversion rates too - if he gets to 50 then he sparkles along to 100 more than 40% of the time.
8. Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath is the "other spinner" often forgotten about in dispatches. Murali fields the controversy and the accolades, while Ajantha Mendis is the pinup boy for mystery balls (see #5) and the like. But it is left-arm leggie Rangana Herath who has been more effective than either of his stablemates in Test cricket over the past 12 months with 16 wickets at 32.44.
9. Nuwan Kulasekara's 17 wickets in the past year is better than any other Sri Lankan bowler, and at a more than handy cost of just 15.06 runs per wicket. Can be bloody annoying with the bat too - he and Chaminda Vaas poured on a Sri Lankan record 105 for the 9th wicket at Lord's in 2006. He scored 64 from 133 balls. Shades of Gillespie and McGrath...
10. Muttiah Muralitharan: 770 Test wickets - 190 batsmen in positions 1-3, 327 in positions 4-7, and 245 tail-enders. He has 69 against New Zealand alone at an average of a tick over 20 runs. And his most regular Kiwi scalp? Daniel Vettori, who has been snared six times.
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How about just 1 reason:
Sri Lanka are way better than us...
Vettori getting a chance to bowl on the subcontinent (and maybe even turn one or two a bit!) is always a little bit exciting - him ripping (belatedly) through the selection XI batting was encouraging. Batting is a bit more of a worry. Would love to see a McCullum hundred Dr Z, maybe he's turned the corner on centuries after the Indian tour? Fingers crossed...
I'm surprised they don't bring the slinger back just to play us, given the havoc he wreaked last time he was down here. Maybe the umpires have different coloured coats on up there.
Since when did Thilan Samaraweera become an opener?
2. Prolific opener Thilan Samaraweera
Has he ever opened the batting for SL
Don't play in Sri Lanka thinking spin will win you matches. The Lankans will play spin far better than the Kiwis and I doubt if Vettori and Patel are really in the ripping-through-a-line-up class. Pick your best fast bowlers and if possible a couple who bowl above 88mph consistently. India actually won a test match in August there due to the opening bursts from Ishant and Zaheer.
Don't worry the Lankans are mentally fragile and seeing Taylor pour on runs will be too much for them to handle, as usual we need an opener or two to get runs but I think Flynn might prove himself and lets hope Oram continues to get ducks as we'll need his bounce to get wickets and he can only do 1 discipline at a time.
Only problem is I don't see Sangakara being dismissed the whole series but I'm going to make a strange prediction and say Ryder is going to cause problems with the ball and after a draw in the first we'll win the 2nd.
Samaraweera is a good player especially at home but he is not an opener for sure.
Among NZ'S players if picked Tuffey can do what Kualsekara did against Pakistan and Vettori can always be useful but the batting is a worry.
I wrote an article on the series too.
This article makes me laugh a bit. It looks like a fools guide (or non cricket followers) to the Sri Lankan cricket team. First up, Thilan Samaraweera is not an opener but bats mostly at no 5. Also Dilshan has never opened in Test cricket but only in ODI's & more famously(He was man of the series in the World T20s) in T20s. Finally, the headline must be the cricket understatement of the year. Sri Lanka will be red hot favourites in all forms especially in their home conditions. Anything that the BC's can achieve on this tour will be a huge achievement. South Africa, India, Pakistan & England have all lost their last test series in Sri Lanka and that must be top of the 10 reasons given here!
SL fan here. Loved reading this piece and can't wait for the series as NZ are my fav team (and have been for many years) aside from SL. Best of luck Vettori and co. but I have a feeling we'll get ourselves a 1-0 win in the Tests. ODIs - well, hope both NZ and SL send the Indians packing with severe wallopings.
P.s. Number 8 - Rangana Herath is slow left-arm orthodox.
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Oh dear. Your synopsis makes for dire reading for BC fans. There is little doubt at least one of those blokes will make a ton in each innings of the series. Can we say the same about the BCs? Seems to me the pace bowling on either side may take a pelting, so for us to compete we will need to post decent runs and rely on Vettori and Patel to produce something special. Could happen......
Prediction: McCullum to smoke a hundred in one of the tests.