Published: Feb 14, 2015, 11:29 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 14, 2015, 12:40 PM (IST)
They were termed as one of the favourites for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 — and New Zealand justified the tag with in clinical performance against Sri Lanka in the inaugural match of the tournament. The Brendon McCullum-led Kiwis thrashed Sri Lanka at Christchurch by 98 runs and started their campaign in style on Saturday. This was the first time New Zealand had beaten Sri Lanka batting first in a World Cup game. With this win New Zealand got two points and moved to the no. one position in Pool A of the points table of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Scorecard: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
New Zealand were way ahead of the Lankans in every department of the game and put up a thoroughly professional performance. It was a cloudy day at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, which becomes the 100th World Cup Venue on Saturday. The hosts came into the game as favourites but when Angelo Mathews won the important toss and asked the Kiwis to bat first on what was expected to be bowling friendly condition, the chances of Sri Lanka increased a bit. But McCullum had other ideas. Live Updates: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka
The Kiwi skipper came out to bat in all guns blazing from the first ball of his innings itself and smashed it to the cover boundary. His intents were clear and the early onslaught put the Sri Lankan new ball bowling pair of Nuwan Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga under huge pressure. Especially McCullum was attacking Malinga, who was making a comeback into the Sri Lankan squad. The premier Sri Lankan pacer looked overweight and was clearly not at his best. Both Kiwi openers took the advantage of it. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
Watching their intent Mathews was forced to introduce his trump card Rangana Herath in the 10th over itself. He along with Suranga Lakmal bowled tightly and brought some calmness in the game. Herath was troubling McCullum (65) and finally got him out. The match turned in the favour of Sri Lanka after that wicket. On that phase New Zealand lost the wickets of Martin Guptill (49) and Ross Taylor (15). Kane Williamson, the New Zealand number three was also struggling a bit. But he stuck around and held the innings together.ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
Williamson eventually reached his 13th half-century in his last 17 games and showed why people are calling him as one of the greatest batsman New Zealand have ever produced. But the finishing touch came from Corey Anderson who scored a 45 ball 75. It is because of his innings New Zealand reached 331, its highest score in World Cup.
The odds were against Sri Lanka, but they started their chase cautiously. Both new ball bowlers of New Zealand Tim Southee and Trent Boult were getting movement out of the wicket. The Sri Lankans looked determined not to give them early wickets and they succeeded on it somewhat. The opening pair battled through to 67. It took the old fox Daniel Vettori to break the partnership.
For the second wicket Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara added 57 runs. On the process Kumar Sangakkara got to two milestones. The Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman became the went past Ricky Ponting and became the second highest run scorers in ODIs also he scored 1000 World Cup runs. At that point when Sri Lanka were looking good to go on the offense, a peach of a delivery by Boult cleaned up the off stump of Thirimanne. That wicket opened the floodgates.
Soon after Sri Lanka lost the experienced pair of Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. And there the Sri Lankan fight ended. No one apart from Mathews showed the urge and application to stay at the wicket and Sri eventually bowled out for 233 in 46.1 overs and New Zealand finally managed to beat Sri Lanka in a World Cup game since 1992.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 331 for 6 in 50 overs (Brendon McCullum 65, Corey Anderson 75; Suranga Lakmal 2 for 62, Jeevan Mendis 2 for 5) beat Sri Lanka 233 in 46.1 overs (Lahiru Thirimanne 65, Angelo Mathews 46; Tim Southee 2 for 43, Daniel Vettori 2 for 34) by 98 runs
Man of the match: Corey Anderson
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
