NZ vs SL 1st ODI Match Prediction

NZ vs SL Team Previews

New Zealand

It's been a while since the Kiwis last played an ODI series at home. It was back in February-March where they lost 3-2 to England in a nail-biting series. Post that, their only international campaign was against Pakistan about a couple of months ago which was tied 1-1.

Although there are a couple of changes made to their ODI squad as compared to the longest format of the game, it's very unlikely that we'll see making more than a couple of changes to their lineup apart from the regular expected changes. Martin Guptill will return to the side after an injury and he's already announced himself with superb innings in Burger King Super Smash.

Their opening pair will reset back to the combination of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro will Kane Williamson coming in next. They've dropped Colin de Grandhomme from the limited-overs leg with Jimmy Neesham making his way back into the side. They have the experience of Ross Taylor in the middle-order as well.

Tim Southee and Trent Boult both were brilliant in the test series and they will once again shoulder a load of quick bowling for the Kiwis. Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson are available in the squad and it's highly unlikely for both of them to make it into the playing eleven. Ish Sodhi will replace Ajaz Patel as the lone spinner and he will have an important role to play against the Islanders who are known to play spin well.

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Sri Lanka

The most visible change in the Sri Lankan lineup is the return of Lasith Malinga to the mix and him being the skipper of the side. Although their recent campaign against England was a big disappointment where they faced a 3-1 loss at home, Malinga's performance was commendable.

Sri Lanka are coming off a poor run in limited overs version of the game with back to back losses in Asia Cup, South Africa, and then at home against England. Angelo Matthews was controversially sacked from captaincy and axed from the team.

The Lankans will draw confidence from their red-ball performance in the recently concluded test series. The Kiwis have struggled against quality spinners of-late and the visitors will be looking to exploit with the presence of quality spinners in their lineup. They have an aggressive batting unit albeit a little inexperienced and if they can complement their bowling, they can certainly make New Zealand work hard.