Sri Lanka Shivers

 New Zealand v Sri Lanka, ODI, Basin Reserve, 5 January 2025

Scorecard

Mrs Scorecards is in Toronto, Canada on grandma duty. The temperature rarely pokes its head above freezing point there at this time of year. Yesterday, a blanket that she put out to dry moulded itself into the shape of the chair it was placed upon, an instant ice sculpture. Yet, it would be valid to have a conversation about whether it would have been less pleasant watching cricket there or at the Basin Reserve for this ODI. The New Zealand summer, often a hard dog to keep on the porch, has absconded completely over the holiday period. Elsewhere on the North Island there has been fresh snow on both Mt Taranaki and the Desert Road, which should not happen at this time of year. 

Readers concerned for the welfare of My Life in Cricket Scorecards need not be. I was in the safety and warmth of the Long Room, along with all other sensible people. I did not share the view of my Petone and Brooklyn correspondents—the Scott and Oates of the Basin Reserve—that true supporters should put their lives on the line in the cause of sport by facing the southerly in the RA Vance Stand.

Williamson and Conway were both absent from the New Zealand team, giving preference to playing in the South African T20 franchise competition. It might seem odd that New Zealand Cricket is being so indulgent as to permit this, but we do not have the cash in the quantities needed to purchase the exclusivity of all the top players. They have done a good job of ensuring that key players are available for much of the time. Both Williamson and Conway will be available for all New Zealand’s cricket for the rest of this year. Of the other players not on full NZC contracts, only Lockie Ferguson might have been selected if not at the BBL. Tom Latham was injured, so Canterbury’s Mitch Hay took the gloves, and so was one of the few on the field or in the stands to retain feeling in his fingers throughout the game. 

Mitch Santner, now New Zealand’s captain in white-ball cricket, put Sri Lanka in, a decision that paid off to the extent of 23 for four after ten overs. For most of the sixty or so years of the limited-overs era, in this situation  the orthodoxy would have been to treat the innings like a first-class game in the hope that sufficient wickets would remain for a dash at the end. 

Here, the first ball of the eleventh over was pulled to the boundary by Avishka Fernando off Henry, caution excised from cricket’s dictionary. The approach was not reckless, but was underpinned by an acceptance that a gritty score fewer than 200 will not win a one-day game, so a level of risk that kept the boundaries coming was acceptable. 

It seemed to be working, for a time. Fernando and Liyanage put on 87 for the fifth wicket in 15 overs, but the last five wickets could muster only 68 between them, just over half of which came from Hasaranga, the only batter to exceed a run-a-ball strike rate. 

Any template for a report on a New Zealand match might as well include the phrase “Matt Henry bowled superbly”. Here, he finished with four for 19, with a combination of pace, movement and consistently putting the ball where the batter least wanted it. A word in favour too of Duffy and Smith, both of whom had to run into the gale, something that would probably be illegal if you made an animal do it. It is good to see both these players doing well after impressing in domestic cricket over several seasons. 

The New Zealand fielding was good too, which it has not always been in recent times. Of particular note were three catches from skyers, all tricky with the wind blowing the ball about like a leaf in autumn. 

Some of the Sri Lankans would never have experienced cold like they felt at the Basin. The wind made their trousers flap like flags at the top of a hill, and the interval between their hands emerging from pockets before, and being thrust back in after, the bowler delivered had become imperceptible by the end of the match. There was a rare consensus in the body language of fielders, spectators and even umpires that the sooner it was over the better. It pretty soon was, the target of 179 reached in the 27th over.

Will Young opened and batted throughout, finishing with a faultless 90 at a little over a run a ball. It was a reassuring, calming performance, though it reminded us of how much we had missed him at the recent test match against England when he was omitted despite having been player of the victorious series in India. There should be no question about his inclusion in the XI for the Champions Trophy. 

Rachin Ravindra batted like a billionaire, but a generous one who tips extravagantly, as he did when giving a catch to deepish square leg when well set on 45 from 36 balls. On the TV highlights it was said that he timed the ball too well, a problem that only the finest players have.

Mark Chapman accompanied Young to see New Zealand home, and it was hot soup all round to celebrate. 

Both the remaining games in the three-match series were won by wide margins: New Zealand by 113 runs at Seddon Park, and a consolation 140-run victory for Sri Lanka at Eden  Park. It was good to be watching men’s ODI cricket once more, even if there was a feel of a repertory company doing a final tour with the stars already left for Hollywood.