New Zealand vs Sri Lanka playing 11 World Cup 2019: Top fantasy picks, captaincy options and team news
Boosted by the recent thrashing of Virat Kohli-led Team Inda during the dress rehearsals of the ICC World Cup 2019, Kane Williamson-led New Zealand will be touted as favourites to emerge triumphant against an unpredictable Sri Lankan side at Cardiff in their opening clash of the quadrennial event on Saturday. After conceding six trounces in the semi-final stages of world cricket’s biggest extravaganza, the Kiwi reached their first final in the previous instalment and will be looking to improve their unprecedented feat by winning the famous trophy for the first time.
With six triumphs out of possible 10 outings against New Zealand in the World Cup, the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side can only enter the high-octane clash with a better previous record on paper. In terms of squad and current form, Williamson’s side have the potential to shut-up shop the Lankan batting lineup with their formidable bowling department that ran riot against the Men in Blue.
Squads:
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (skipper), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (skipper), Dhananjaya de Silva, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana and Jeffrey Vandersay.
The 1996 champions were eliminated by South Africa in the 2015 World Cup as they were bowled out for 134. Coming to the England and Wales quadrennial event, the young and promising Sri Lankan side will have the lowest win percentage in their favour in comparison to the nine other participating nations.
Mounting more pressure on the 1996 champions will be Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson and the in-form Ross Taylor as both have had tremendous batting partnerships on English soil. Williamson-Taylor duo will be the biggest threat for Lanka if their last six partnerships are concerned:121, 206, 101, 99, 95 and 83 in last six appearances.
NZ Possible XI: Guptill, Munro, Williamson (C), Taylor, Latham/Blundell, Neesham, Santner, Southee, Sodhi, Boult and Ferguson.
SL Possible XI: Karunaratne (C), Thirimanne, Mendis, Kusal Perera (WK), Mathews, Thisara, Dhananjaya de Silva, Udana, Jeevan Mendis, Malinga and Lakmal.
Captaincy Picks:
Williamson, Guptill and Karunaratne are today’s top captaincy options while Taylor, Mathews could be named the vice-captain for the match.
Top Fantasy Picks: Along with the captaincy and vice-captaincy options, other players to watch out for are Boult, Munro, Southee, Malinga, Thisara and Dhananjaya de Silva.
