Even though New Zealand lost the opening ODI in Dambulla on Wednesday by a fairly wide margin of 45 runs, it was a chance for a young team that had at least three debutants in the starting lineup to gain the “best seat in the house” in terms of learning how to play in new conditions. “I think the experiences that you get in this part of the world, they’re obviously very different conditions from what we face back home in New Zealand,” Michael Bracewell stated following the match. “The real difficulty of playing international cricket is those experiences you bank on, learn from, and hopefully return better.
“So as much as playing against them [Sri Lanka], you sort of watch them with the best seat in the house and see how they go about their business.”
In that situation, they saw a masterclass in navigating a sometimes slow surface for almost 35 overs.
Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando demonstrated the importance of getting in during a 206-run second-wicket partnership off just 215 deliveries, which virtually ended the visitors’ chances of winning the match.
“It was difficult looking to start on as we saw, because after that big partnership between Fernando and Mendis, it was hard for the guys to come in and score straight away,” said Bracewell. “It goes without saying that partnerships are quite essential, and we witnessed one in the first innings of almost 200 runs. That, in my opinion, is what altered the outcome.
And I believe we most likely witnessed that today. To attempt to break those partnerships a little bit sooner, we’ll need to keep coming up with new responses and hurling various things at the Sri Lankan batsmen throughout the series since they played so brilliantly.”
Mendis and Avishka made sure the scoring pace was steady between five and six runs each over, rotating strike with the occasional boundary thrown in, after Pathum Nissanka fell early. They didn’t feel secure enough to increase the score until nearly halfway through the innings.
However, Sri Lanka had done enough with their final score of 324 to guarantee that New Zealand would have a difficult goal of 221 off 27 overs even with a DLS adjustment. The opening duo of Will Young and Tim Robinson scored 88 off only 80 deliveries, giving New Zealand a similarly strong start to their chase. However, the innings started to unravel after they fell.
Guys entering the game had to start right away because of the evident scoreboard pressure.
It’s always difficult because of that, but that’s a part of the work of being in the middle order. And it’s clear that we got it wrong. However, we’ll return in a few days and hope to revive that once more.”
Bracewell himself was one of those who may have done more.
It’s always difficult because of that, but that’s a part of the work of being in the middle order. And it’s clear that we got it wrong. However, we’ll return in a few days and hope to revive that once more.”
Bracewell himself was one of those who may have done more.
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