New Zealand pacers bowl out SL for 136 to set up big victory

CARDIFF: They came to cheer from all parts of the UK at the Sophia Gardens here, but after their team slid to a humiliating 10-wicket defeat to New Zealand, Sri Lanka's supporters made sure they booed their heroes out of the ground. All batsmen from south Asia, in fact, are in danger of being dismissed cheaply unless they improve drastically on the seamer friendly tracks on offer here.

SCORECARD^[1] | SCHEDULE^[2] | POINTS TABLE^[3]

Pakistan fell like a pack of cards, managing just 106 in 21.4 overs against the West Indies on a bouncy pitch in Nottingham on Friday. Sri Lanka fared slightly better on a grassy surface on Saturday, lasting for 29.2 overs before folding for 136.

It was then the turn of Kiwi openers Martin Guptill (73*; 51b, 6x4, 2x6) and Colin Munro (58*; 47b, 5x4, 1x6) to make merry and knock off the puny target in T20 style. It took the ultra aggressive openers just 16.1 overs to complete Lanka's annihilation. If Pakistan lost the game by as many as 218 balls, the Lankans took only 14 deliveries less before it was time for the post-match press conference!

Henry, Ferguson propel New Zealand to easy victory over Sri Lanka

Big win for Black Caps

New Zealand crushed Sri Lanka without losing a single wicket in Cardiff on Saturday to begin their World Cup campaign in style. (AFP Photo)

Guptill-Munro show

Kiwi opener Martin Guptill smashed an unbeaten 51-ball 73, while his partner Colin Munro made 58 not out to help New Zealand reach their target in less than 17 overs. (AFP Photo)

New Zealand opted to field

Kiwis skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl on a pitch so green it was indistinguishable from the outfield. (Twitter Photo)

Matt Henry claimed three wickets

Matt Henry trapped Sri Lankan opener Lahiru Thirimanne leg-before in the first over. Canterbury seamer Henry, who conceded 107 runs in a warm-up match against West Indies earlier this week, continued his resurgence to remove Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis in the ninth over to leave the Sri Lankan middle order exposed at 46-3. (AFP Photo)

Lockie Ferguson claimed 3/22

Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson bagged three middle-order wickets as Sri Lanka finished with the lowest ODI total at Sophia Gardens - below their own record there of 138, also set against the Kiwis, in the 2013 Champions Trophy. , Henry and Ferguson helped New Zealand skittle Sri Lanka out for 136. (AFP Photo)

Dimuth Karunaratne carried his bat through the innings

Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne led a mini-recovery for his side, carrying his bat through the innings with an unbeaten 52 to take the total past 100. (AFP Photo)

Thisara Perera scored 27 runs

But apart from all-rounder Thisara Perera (27), Karunaratne received no support from the lower order as they were skittled out with 20.4 overs to spare. (AFP Photo)

Incidentally, the first three games in the World Cup have been heavily one-sided, which isn't a good advertisement for the One-day game.

New Zealand enjoyed a flying start to their World Cup campaign, putting in a thoroughly clinical display with both bat and the ball. Winning a crucial toss on a green top, the Kiwi pacers ran riot right away. The charge was led by seamer Matt Henry, who picked up the first three wickets. Ironically, the seamer had experienced the other side of the spectrum only a few days ago at Bristol, just 40 miles from this venue, being hammered for 107 runs in nine overs by the belligerent West Indies batsmen in the Kiwis' final warm-up game.

On Saturday, he struck off the second ball of the match as Lahiru Thirummane was trapped LBW playing across, with NZ skipper Kane Williamson successfully reviewing the call. Even as opener and skipper Dimuth Karunarathne fought the conditions and the Kiwi pace attack valiantly, carrying his bat through the innings with an unbeaten 52 (84b; 4x4), the others kept falling like nine pins, showing absolutely no application to play the moving ball in what was an extremely poor batting performance.

Kushal Perera counter-attacked for a while before an over-adventurous stroke off Henry saw him getting caught at mid-on. Off the next ball, he had Jeev Mendis caught superbly by Martin Guptill, diving to his left from second slip. Dhananjay de Silva struck a four to deny Henry a hat-trick, but then it was the turn of Lockie Ferguson to come to the party with three wickets.

World Cup: Henry, Ferguson propel NZ to easy victory over SL

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Former skipper Angelo Mathews scratched around for nine balls and fell for a duck. Perhaps, they'd been better off picking the technically-equipped Dinesh Chandimal, and 'keeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella.

Before launching into their first game, the Kiwis received a setback in the form of injuries to Tim Southee and Henry Nicholls. In a rare case, their pace ace Trent Bout had an off-day.
In comparison, Lanka's leading pacer, Lasith Malinga, was smashed around for 46 runs in just five overs by Guptill and Munro, who raced away to this edition's first hundred-run opening partnership. The Lankans must now somehow recover from this mauling before they play their next game against Afghanistan on June 7.
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References

1. ^{^} SCORECARD (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} SCHEDULE (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} POINTS TABLE (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Colin Munro (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} Kane Williamson (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
6. ^{^} Angelo Mathews (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
7. ^{^} Dinesh Chandimal (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
8. ^{^} Niroshan Dickwella (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
9. ^{^} Tim Southee (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
10. ^{^} Lasith Malinga (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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