*Official* Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand 2018/19

[Fuller Pilch]

Apparently a good catch. Nicholls needs 63 to get average up to 40

 

[nzfan]

Watched two good days of cricket at Basin. A lot has been said about KW, he's a class act.. Just treating the ball on merit and not even aiming to score quickly but he has a solid answer to every ball be it fast bowlers or spin bowlers. Touch wood but with that sort of batting he's never likely to get to bad form. Likely will end up in the top 10 best batsman ever let along being the best in NZ.

Tom Latham was awesome to watch, again brilliant timing on the front foot. Good clips off the legs, left hander's bread and butter shots. The Sri Lankan bowlers didn't seem to have any plan whatsoever. They just come and deliver the ball hoping for the best. You can't do that against top quality opposition particularly at home. They ought to have come up with better plans to each batsman and struck to that. Runs were leaked big time and fielding wasn't all that flash. They look tired at the start of a fresh series, not good.

 

[stephen]

It's so refreshing to watch the New Zealand batsmen who can move their feet, unlike the Australian batting lineup.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Apparently a good catch. Nicholls needs 63 to get average up to 40

Or 23*

 

[Bahnz]

Forecast for Wednesday now looking really bad. Might want to have a bash after lunch and declare before tea.

Flem will sneer at him for minnow-bashing, but this is still a very good innings from Latham, and has enabled KW, Taylor and Nicholls to push on at a high strike rate.

 

[_Ed_]

Forecast for Wednesday now looking really bad. Might want to have a bash after lunch and declare before tea.

CDG in next, IMO.

 

[_Ed_]

Strange take from Smith - "no point in taking notice of weather forecasts - just play normally and if rain stops you from winning the game, so be it."

 

[Mike5181]

I swear CdG must not be in the in-group with the commentators or something. Doull/Smith spent years talking up garbage players like Doug Bracewell, but CdG fails on one UAE tour and it's the end of the world.

 

[_Ed_]

In Smith's case, I think a bit of CD bias comes into it with Bracewell.

 

[Bahnz]

In Smith's case, I think a bit of CD bias comes into it with Bracewell.

The fact that he used to play with Doug's dad probably didn't hurt either.

Good morning session for New Zealand, have a flog after lunch and declare half an hour before tea.

 

[NZTailender]

Gonna get blamed for a jinx and fully deserved if so but I hope Latham carries his bat, 200*+

 

[Starfighter]

Strange take from Smith - "no point in taking notice of weather forecasts - just play normally and if rain stops you from winning the game, so be it."

Now that's one of the sillier things I've heard. There's no excuse for not being able to plan for the weather these days and adjusting your strategy accordingly.

 

[straw man]

Very little to comment on when the match is just going to plan so well. Hope Latham gets his double hundred. I'm not watching but from the radio commentary, SL seem lost and out of options. Lakmal and Kumara are ok but Rajitha doesn't seem much good at this stage in his career, while Perera is finding that taking a million wickets at home doesn't help in NZ conditions.

Declaration discussions can be tedious, but I hope they revisit the idea floated at the start of the day of only declaring to bowl the last 40 minutes of the final session. That seems a little late when there's day 5 rain.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

The epic rant from the commentators yesterday about how Williamson doesn’t take enough pleasure in his own batting records or talk about his individual goals enough was legit one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever heard.

No no such thing as humbleness for those grizzly 80s veterans.

As for CDG, I actually thought him and Doull were quite chummy, maybe not.

 

[Athlai]

I'm pro dropping CDG discussion but anyone that seriously discusses Doug Bracewell as anything more than very very outside injury cover is a mad man.

 

[_Ed_]

Easy 50 for Nicholls. He's in immense form.

 

[Gnske]

It's the high IQ opener's knock. Just a pity this will be his only major contribution of the summer, in all likelihood.

 

[straw man]

Interestingly, Perera is in his 35th test and has 147 wickets, but this is his very first match in an Aus/NZ/UK/SA (ANUS) country. Currently he hates it too.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Noooo he’s botched the 40 average! #soclose

 

[straw man]

he should thank me for that wicket tbh