Young side take troubles in their stride

The New Zealand teams early arrival in Sri Lanka on the 4th January may have given them time to adjust to local conditions but it has not been trouble free. During the stay there has been a suicide bomb, an assassination and to top it all, the rains have returned again to this tropical city. These incidents have severely hampered their preparations for the tournament.

Their manager, Paul Smith, was however looking on the positive side yesterday, preferring to look forward rather than back. Whilst practice may have been disrupted he pointed to the fact that they had now completed two competitive practice games and were ready for the real action to commence.

On Sunday they played the Australians at the Police Ground and were beaten by 125 runs. There captain, J. Franklin, was very disappointed last night by the batting which collapsed to 110 all out. Nevertheless they appeared to have the worse of the conditions, as the pitch broke up in the second innings, and they can take credit for a fine bowling performance that reduced the Australians to 144-9. Alas for New Zealand, the final pair scored a 91 run partnership.

Indeed the strength of the lower order batting is something that both sides highlight when trying to identify their strengths. Paul Harrison stressed that despite being a young side the entire top ten possess the potential to score centuries. Although the batsmen failed today their manager believes their batting holds the key to their success in this tournament.

Th batsmen will have to adapt to the pitches here which tend to be slower and more variable in pace than back home. Whilst in New Zealand the pace of the pitches allows the bowling to be worked behind square easily, the conditions here require different approach. The Management has been stressing the need for the batsmen to individually identify the areas in which they will score, especially off the spinners, in front of the wicket.