Sri Lanka tour of NZ

[Mr Angry]

Great stuff kiwis, just got to get Kumar.

Martin Crowe and Richard Hadlee are the kiwis best ever easily IMO.

 

[JJ]

Great stuff kiwis, just got to get Kumar.

Martin Crowe and Richard Hadlee are the kiwis best ever easily IMO.

Hadlee without question, the batting side is more debatable

 

[Meth]

Best shot of the day, that cover drive from Williamson. Good signs

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Sri Lanka deadset gone

 

[JJ]

they have some good batsmen, a chase will be interesting imo

 

[Meth]

Watling hit by a beauty from Pradeep

 

[Meth]

Time to accelerate? Try to put on a quick(er) 80-100 and leave 20 overs to bowl tonight?

 

[vvvrulz]

Time to accelerate? Try to put on a quick(er) 80-100 and leave 20 overs to bowl tonight?

Not sure if the lead will be good enough with 20 overs, I'd give ourselves say 10 overs with the lead 350+

 

[Meth]

Pradeep's bowling to Watling is maddeningly negative

 

[JJ]

Be interesting to see what we do - I have no problem with us batting them out of it to ensure we win the series - certainly Sangakarra and Mathews deserve some respect.

Their bowling has been negative, but by the same token we're batting very tightly, so it's a strange stalemate where we're now in charge.

As I said before, great test though - important thing for me is we win the series, 2-0 would be great, but I am happy with 1-0 - would hate 1-1

 

[edabomb]

Huge effort from this pair.

What I saw yesterday afternoon it looked like a pretty dead pitch. If it has remained that way then there is no point in declaring today. If there was a bit in it then I wouldn't have minded us setting them 350ish in 100 overs.

 

[Meth]

100 up for Watling. Absolutely bloody crucial innings. Without him, Sri Lanka are in right now and chasing a gettable total.

 

[JJ]

Great ton for Watling

Also, must say, the classy behaviour from both sides in this series is great - very competitive, no quarter given but a respect and classiness in sharp contrast to the boorish bullshit prevalent in the series in Australia

 

[vvvrulz]

Also, must say, the classy behaviour from both sides in this series is great - very competitive, no quarter given but a respect and classiness in sharp contrast to the boorish bullshit prevalent in the series in Australia

Very good point, and a similar sort of attitude is marring the Ashes as well. All the hot air between those three teams is getting pretty old

 

[JJ]

Very good point, and a similar sort of attitude is marring the Ashes as well. All the hot air between those three teams is getting pretty old

yeah, I was lamenting the fact that they seldom play anyone outside their exclusive trio, but to be honest that shit doesn't excite me.

I thought the congratulations to Kumar were classy, and the Sri Lankans have done similar - and the cricket is still hard and competitive

 

[vvvrulz]

This is exactly where New Zealand have improved leaps and bounds under Hesson and are becoming a genuine world threat. Its days like yesterday when the chips are down and the opposition have a sniff, out of nowhere we pull something out of the bag. Yes we have bad days but lately we're making up for them with exceptional days like today, a group of players perform together regularly

One more good opener and strike bowler and we have a very good test team

 

[JJ]

One more good opener and strike bowler and we have a very good test team

I think were are already a very good test team tbh, and for me the only gap is the second opener.

I like Bracewell a lot, and don't think it will be long before Milne and Henry are part of the test squad. Wagner is honest too. And Craig is not as bad as many think.

Also, of course, there's the decision at #6 - Neesham has done a lot right, but they seem to favour Anderson when he's fit

 

[edabomb]

The resillience this team has shown in the past twelve months has been unbelievable.

It's something I haven't seen before. Even when we got up to third in the world in the early 2000s we still folded meekly fairly often.

 

[vvvrulz]

I like Bracewell a lot, and don't think it will be long before Milne and Henry are part of the test squad. Wagner is honest too. And Craig is not as bad as many think.

Also, of course, there's the decision at #6 - Neesham has done a lot right, but they seem to favour Anderson when he's fit

Bracewell has had too many bad days to go with his good ones, as has Wagner. The difference is that Wagner always tries his guts out which is why I'd rather have him.

Would be great to see Milne and Henry get a crack in whites, you're right we have plenty of options its just a matter of narrowing that third person.

I don't mind Craig, he's very handy with the bat too

I prefer Neesham at the moment over Anderson, there isn't room for both of them and I get the feeling Anderson overachieved a bit early. He's been flat for a while now, I don't think that massive IPL contract did him any good.

 

[Meth]

I think were are already a very good test team tbh, and for me the only gap is the second opener.

I like Bracewell a lot, and don't think it will be long before Milne and Henry are part of the test squad. Wagner is honest too. And Craig is not as bad as many think.

Also, of course, there's the decision at #6 - Neesham has done a lot right, but they seem to favour Anderson when he's fit

I'm not quite there. I'm not completely sold on Latham (though I think he is worth persevering with for now) or Rutherford (obviously), nor Neesham or Anderson.