Saturday, August 7, 2010

New Zealand Tour to Sri Lanka: A Preview



Fixtures:
Tue Aug 10
1st Match - India v New Zealand
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Fri Aug 13
2nd Match - Sri Lanka v New Zealand
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Mon Aug 16
3rd Match - Sri Lanka v India
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Thu Aug 19
4th Match - Sri Lanka v New Zealand
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Sun Aug 22
5th Match - Sri Lanka v India
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Wed Aug 25
6th Match - India v New Zealand
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Sat Aug 28
Final - TBC v TBC
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium





I'm cautiously optimistic that a few guys can step up in those players' absence and we'll be competitive. I'm happy to see that the matches are at Dambulla. From memory of other games I've seen played there, the conditions are nice and bowler-friendly. And the scenery's spectacular as well.

NZ are a great side to beat India, tbh.. the teamwork and synergy stuff etc etc. I'm going to pick this now - NZ to make the final.

Kane Williamson to shine with bat and ball. Taylor to make a few nice fifties. Guptill to be aggravatingly inconsistent. McKay and Mills to form a dangerous new ball pairing. Oram to get injured. Styris to annoy the best bats in the world with his nagging medium pace.

current line-up is probably:

Watling/Ingram
Guptill
Taylor
Styris
Elliot
Oram
Hopkins
McCullum
Mills
Tuffee
McKay/Southee

Williamson isn't an opener (or at least hasn't been in domestic cricket), so it's unlikely he'll pick up one of those spots. And in the middle-order you would think that Taylor, Styris, Elliot and Oram are all certainties to play (especially given how succesful that lot were during the CT). Hopkins and McCullum/Patel are both certainties you would think, given how inexperienced Williamson is as a bowler. So that would mean that Williamson would only get a run if we decided to go with 2 specialist seamers, which seems unlikely (though not impossible, with Oram back in the side).

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