- New Zealand defeat Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Hagley Oval
- Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptil shine in first one-day international
Brendon McCullum’s love affair with Hagley Oval continued, along with Martin Guptill’s dream year, as New Zealand trounced Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the first one-day international.
The Black Caps opening pair put on 108 in 10 overs, and easily accounted for Sri Lanka’s total of 188, chasing it for just the loss of three wickets. It was an abject performance from the tourists, following on from their 2-0 Test series loss, and suggests they will struggle for the remainder of the five-match ODI series.
While the Sri Lanka top order capitulated after winning the toss, it was the opposite for McCullum and Guptill, who flung bat at ball from the outset to record blistering half centuries. Captain McCullum’s 55 off 25 balls came exactly a year after his brutal Boxing Day 195 off 134 balls against Sri Lanka to christen Hagley Oval on the first day of the ground’s inaugural Test.
His only two other ODIs at the venue were also against Sri Lanka this year, scoring 51 off 22 and 65 off 49. While McCullum struck 11 fours and six, Guptill’s mix was nine fours and four sixes in his 79 off 55 balls. The clean-hitting opener has scored a world-leading 1366 ODI runs in the calendar year, moving ahead of teammate Kane Williamson, who sat the game out with a knee niggle.
Williamson was replaced by Tom Latham who fell for 18 before Ross Taylor (5no) and Henry Nicholls (23no) saw the Black Caps home. It was a promising debut from left-hander Nicholls, who scored at better than a run a ball, hitting five fours. Left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana removed both openers by tempting them in to loose shots, taking 2-45 to back up his top score for Sri Lanka of 66.
The tourists hopes had virtually disappeared when they slumped to 5-27, destroyed by man of the match Matt Henry’s devastating opening spell of 4-26. Siriwardana and Nuwan Kulasekara (58) then put on 98, a Sri Lanka record for the seventh wicket against New Zealand before the innings ended with three overs to spare.
Right-arm paceman Henry (4-49) bowled with zip and late movement, removing experienced quartet Tillakaratne Dilshan (9), Lahiru Thirimanne (1) and Dinesh Chandimal (5) before snaring captain Angelo Mathews for a golden duck. Adam Milne (1-30) impressed as much as Henry, bowling at close to 150kmh in his first Black Caps appearance for four months.
McCullum says the opening bowlers laid the foundation for victory, shining in the absence of rested new-ball pair Trent Boult and Tim Southee. “Adam and Matt, back into the side, were outstanding for us and that was the winning of the game,” McCullum said. “It thought par score here was 280-290 so for us to take 5-30 up front was a truly outstanding bowling performance.”
Mathews says his side have a mountain of mental work to do ahead of Monday’s second game at the same venue. “We have to shove it under the carpet and get our mindset right,” he said. “There was no real reason (for the batting collapse), they bowled well and we just couldn’t handle it.”
He says containing McCullum and Guptill will be a challenge for an attack robbed by injury of accomplished opening bowler Lasith Malinga. “They are both power-hitters and they want to take on the bowlers from the very beginning. We have to bowl in the right areas.”
