“Winning breeds confidence,” New Zealand’s batting coach Craig McMillan said ahead of the seventh match against Sri Lanka, and his team has now won eight of their nine most recent matches. Better even than the good results has been the nature of their wins. In the Test in Wellington, and in the ODIs in Christchurch, Nelson and the first match in Dunedin, the hosts have been in losing positions before a staggering comeback upended the run of play. Substantial contributions have come from such a diverse range of personnel, that it has felt like the bus driver could hit a hundred and take four wickets, if only he got the chance.
Now they arrive at the dead rubber 4-1 ahead in the series with a chance to trial a new combination, and test the strength of their wider squad. They have already been rotating players during the series, but with two more ODIs against Pakistan scheduled in the next week, it is also a chance for key players to be rested and refreshed.
Sri Lanka’s rotation has been of a different kind entirely. They have been on a ferris wheel of despair in New Zealand, taking early wickets then allowing the game to slip, shelling simple catches then watching that batsman grind the attack into the dust, before the younger batsmen’s repeated failures make the seniors’ work redundant. Next match they do it all again.
Frustratingly for their fans, the team has not explored many options. Right through the ODIs, Sri Lanka have played only three frontline bowlers, and made the rest of the overs up with their allrounders. Perhaps the prospect of being slammed 5-1 is enough to shock the side into using a new team combination. Captain Angelo Mathews has been unwell with the flu in the approach to this match however and, if he is unavailable for the third game on the trot, Sri Lanka may struggle to balance their side.
Form guide
(completed matches only, most recent first)
New Zealand:WWWLW
Sri Lanka:LLLWL
In the spotlight
Ross Taylor said he had never really felt out of form, following his first substantial score of the series in Dunedin, but with him now among the runs, New Zealand’s top order appears more formidable. Taylor’s chance of making another good score on Thursday has risen, with his main tormentor Rangana Herath unavailable for that match due to an illness in his family. Taylor is less likely to be troubled by Sachithra Senanayake, whose stock ball turns into him, opening up the batsman’s favoured leg side.
The Sri Lanka selectors have not been enamoured with Thisara Perera’s work ethic at times in the past year, and with a mediocre stretch of returns with both ball and bat in this series, he is now approaching the time when he must again prove his value to the side. Perera is a confidence player however, and it may only take one good turn in either discipline to get his game humming again.
Team news
Brendon McCullum may have a match off on Thursday, with the hosts perhaps planning to trial Tom Latham in the opening spot. Kane Williamson would lead in his stead. If the pitch is spin-friendly, both Nathan McCullum and Daniel Vettori could play. Adam Milne is again unlikely to be available, but any combination of the remaining fast bowlers may be named.
New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt.)/ Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan
In addition to doubts over Mathews, and Herath’s unavailability, seamer Dhammika Prasad and legspinning allrounder Jeevan Mendis have also sustained niggles. If Prasad cannot play, young quick bowler Dushmantha Chameera might take his place. Suranga Lakmal appears to have recovered sufficiently from a groin strain to be available.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Lahiru Thirimanne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.)/ Dimuth Karunaratne, 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Dhammika Prasad/ Dushmantha Chameera 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Suranga Lakmal
Pitch and conditions
Wellington Stadium is one of the larger grounds in the country, but as a drop-in pitch is used there, the nature of the surface is changeable. The weather is expected to be cloudy but dry for the duration of the game.
Stats and trivia
Out of the batsmen in New Zealand’s squad, only Tom Latham has not yet made a fifty-plus score in the series. He has only played three innings so far.
Thisara Perera has hit seven runs in four innings in this series. With the ball, he has taken three wickets at 95.66, with an economy rate of 6.83.
Quotes
“It’s about keeping the foot on the throat in this match. The last game in Dunedin was probably our most complete performance across all three disciplines. There are areas we want to get better in, so we’re not satisfied. It would be nice to finish off a tour where we’ve been pretty dominant over Sri Lanka, with a win tomorrow.”
New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan