If you think life has been unfair or you have ran out of luck or there’s no bigger failure than you, let me tell you that Sri Lanka have lost 33 of 44 ODIs in the last 2 years. It’s okay. Neither can Sri Lank digest the fact. They, however, will be hoping that their new captain Lasith Malinga helps them move from the past and write new beginnings. He, after all, was at the helm when Sri Lanka lifted the World T20 trophy in 2014.
New Zealand meanwhile have shifted their focus to the World Cup. They came close to glory in 2015 and they will, no doubt, do it again if they play as a cohesive unit. Let the preparations begin.
Headlines
Tom Latham has been rested, and replacing him and debuting will be Tim Seifert.
In the absence of the injured Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka have added Sadeera Samawickrama in the squad.
Let’s list down the players who are likely to accumulate more points in our fantasy team.Note: Make your fantasy cricket team by knowing the statistics.
My XI: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Ross Taylor (c), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Colin Munro, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga (vc), Trent Boult, Matt Henry
Batters
There aren’t many veterans in the Sri Lankan batting line-up. The onus, therefore, will be on Dickwella and Chandimal to pile on runs. Dickwella knows only one way to score runs, that is, to take on the bowlers, while Chandimal takes his time before he unleashes his aggressive side. Better be safe than sorry and add these two in our fantasy team, as they featured in the Test series and must have, by now, known how to bat in these conditions. In addition, Dickwella will be our wicketkeeper, given it will be the first ODI encounter for Seifert.
Ross Taylor’s last five innings read 113, 10, 181*, 80, and 86*. We have our captain here. Period.
The remaining two batters will be the swaggering Guptill and the talismanic Williamson. It’s difficult to complete a fantasy XI without these swashbuckling cricketers.
All-rounder
Batting alongside Guptill will be Munro. The devastating opener has scored runs at a strike rate of 104 in ODIs. Malinga will have to devise an effective plan if he has to keep a lid on the runs.
Bowlers
Williamson at the press conference said that it will be a “fair” ODI track, meaning it will be as effective for the bowler as it will be for the batters. For that matter, we have added a slow left-arm chinaman in Sandakan and three pacers in Malinga, Boult, and Henry.
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