NZ vs SL 3rd ODI Match Prediction

NZ vs SL Team Previews

New Zealand

New Zealand will be delighted with their performance in the opening match, and the break would have served them well as they look to emulate their performance at Hamilton too.

Tom Latham will be happy with the performance of all his players, especially the bowlers. Henry Shipley, who has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, has continued with his form on the international stage too as he picked up a fifer in the opening match.

Blair Tickner and Matt Henry had a good outing in the Test series earlier on this tour and will bring experience to the pace attack. The spinners Ish Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra didn’t get a chance to bowl in the opening match and will be raring to go here.

The hosts also have a strong batting line-up and most of its top and middle-order batsmen are in good form. Finn Allen scored an excellent half-century and stitched important partnerships with Will Young and Daryl Mitchell to steer New Zealand to a match-winning total. Rachin Ravindra, who was making his ODI debut, played a gritty knock of 49 and was unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved half-century.

Overall, New Zealand is well-placed to clinch the series here.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was completely outplayed in the opening match played at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday. While the bowlers did a decent job on a good batting wicket, it was the batsmen who let them down. Just 3 batsmen managed to reach double figures against a lethal pace attack of the hosts as Sri Lanka was bundled out for just 76 runs in under 20 overs, making this their lowest total ever against New Zealand.

With their second match getting washed out, the chances of Sri Lanka getting a direct entry into the upcoming ODI World Cup have diminished considerably as they will now have to rely on the results of other matches.

Pathum Nissanka and Nuwanidu are once again expected to open the batting for the visitors and will be looking to give a good start. However, we think Kusal Mendis will need to play a big role here. He was dismissed for a duck in the opening match even after facing 16 deliveries.

The team has a long list of all-rounders in the middle order but the majority of the scoring responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, and Dasun Shanaka. Chamika Karunaratne, who picked up 4 wickets in the opening game and will once again play an important role here with the ball.

He will be supported by Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, and Dilshan Madushanka in the pace attack, while Wanindu Hasaranga is the only quality spinner on the side.