New Zealand’s Matt Henry was at his best in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, picking up four wickets. The match was played at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, on Sunday. Matt Henry‘s brilliant bowling saw Sri Lanka bowled out for a paltry 178 runs. The visitors, who were asked to bat first, struggled from the word go, crumbling to 23/4 in the first 10 overs. The Kiwis later recorded a comfortable nine-wicket win.
Matt Henry claimed four wickets and Will Young scored an unbeaten 90 as New Zealand coasted to a nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the 1st ODI on Sunday. The tourists never recovered after slumping to 23-4 inside 10 overs, dismissed in the 44th over for 178 after being asked to bat in cold, windy Wellington.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : “It’s a big ground here, 68 square boundaries and it provides an opportunity for bowling plans. Will be important to hit with the wind. It looks green. It’s hard underneath. They’ve trimmed out some grass but there’s still some green grass. It’ll be like a Day 3 wicket. Possible to hit it with the wind. We could see a score around 300” reckons Shane Bond and Katey Martin.
Toss : New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bowl with four seamers at windy Wellington in the playing XI. Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka who also wanted to bowl first chose to go with 3 seamers with Eshan Malinga making his debut in the playing XI.
Matt Henry’s 4-19 at windy Wellington restricts SL to 179 all out
New captain Mitchell Santner though won an important toss and made no missteps thereon as Sri Lanka were reduced to 23 for 4 inside 10 overs. Matt Henry opened the sluice gates in the fifth over when Pathum Nissanka chipped a simple catch to mid-off, attempting to flick a full ball. In the very next over, Jacob Duffy had Kusal Mendis chopping on.
Fresh from a successful Test series against England, Matt Henry proved too much for the Sri Lankan batters to handle. Matt Henry sent opener Pathum Nissanka packing for just nine runs in the fifth over. Nissanka had scored 141 runs at an average of 47 in the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand. However, his attempt to score off Matt Henry ended with a catch by Santner at mid-off.
New Zealand backed up their bowling with excellent ground fielding as Santner swooped in on a push-and-run from Kamindu Mendis and flicked a direct hit at the bowler’s end to effect a sharp run-out. Santner also called right with a DRS review in the following over to give Nathan Smith the wicket of Charith Asalanka, who edged an attempted fend to the ‘keeper Mitchell Hay.
Sri Lanka rallied after the early setback through an 87-run partnership between Avishka Fernando and Janith Liyanage. The former hit his way out of trouble as he struck Nathan Smith for a four and a six. Liyanage, at the other end, ramped Will O’Rourke for a four. The pair plundered another 11 runs off a Smith over as runs continued to come along at a healthy clip. Eventually, the partnership was broken by the captain, who dragged his length back and had Liyanage miscue an attempted heave to depart for 36.
Despite the early setbacks, opener Avishka Fernando scored a resilient 56 off 63 balls. His innings included six fours and a six, contributing significantly to Sri Lanka’s total. He shared an 87-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Janith Liyanage, who was dismissed for 36 by off-spinner Mitchell Santner. Lower-order batters Wanindu Hasaranga (35) and Chamindu Wickramasinghe (22) contributed some late runs to Sri Lanka’s score before both were sent back by Matt Henry.
Fernando fell for a solid 56 in the immediate next over as he guided a Smith ball straight to point. Sri Lanka found another 48-run stand between Chamindu Wickramasinghe (22) and Wanindu Hasaranga (35), the latter even connecting four boundaries and a six to add vital lower-order runs. Eventually, Matt Henry returned to the attack in the 38th over and struck immediately to dismiss Wickramasinghe. He picked a wicket in each of his three remaining overs to finish with a four-fer as Sri Lanka were bowled out in the 44th over.
Matt Henry continued his onslaught against the Sri Lankan tailenders, ending with 4/19 off 10 overs. His final wicket was debutant Eshan Malinga, who could only manage four runs. Matt Henry finished with 4/19 from 10 overs. Matt Henry made his ODI debut in 2015 against England at Lord’s.
As per ESPNCricinfo, the NZ pacer Matt Henry has now raced to 145 wickets from 83 ODIs at an average of 25.80 (ER: 5.17).This includes two fifers and 11 four-wicket hauls. 28 of his scalps have come in 13 ODIs against SL at 15.39. Matt Henry has a terrific ODI record at home, having taken 68 wickets at 19.60.
Will Young’s stellar 90* guides NZ to a thumping 9 wicket over SL
Batting conditions improved and the in-form Will Young took advantage, hitting 12 fours. The 32-year-old Will Young was named player of the series following the 3-0 Test sweep in India and scored 42 and 60 in his only appearance during the home Test series loss to England before Christmas.
Given the trouble New Zealand’s quicks had given Sri Lanka, the chase was exceptionally smooth. Rachin Ravindra was strong on the front foot early on, finding six boundaries in the arc between backward point and mid-off. Will Young, meanwhile, was excellent whenever Sri Lanka’s bowlers pitched short, playing a number of powerful pulls and hooks.
New Zealand were 70 for no loss at the end of the powerplay, Sri Lanka’s seamers guilty of a little indiscipline. There were no serious wicket chances, aside from one missed run-out by Asitha Fernando, who had fielded the ball in his follow-through.
Meanwhile, NZ’s chase was powered by Will Young’s 93* and Rachin Ravindra’s 45. The two openers added 93 runs, helping NZ (180/1) prevail in just 26.2 overs. In response, Will Young and Ravindra got the hosts off to a blazing start, adding 93 runs for the first wicket in just 12.3 overs. Ravindra fell for a 36-ball 45 but Will Young carried on, hitting as many as 12 boundaries in his 86-ball 90* and polished off the chase with more than 23 to spare.
Ravindra would be dismissed attempting an ambitious leg-side flick off a full delivery down the leg side, but the remainder of the chase was straightforward. Young continued to find those leg-side boundaries and sped past his tenth ODI half-century. Mark Chapman was a steady presence at the other end. Their unbeaten stand of 87 took the hosts home.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mitchell Santner the winning skipper said : Credit to the boys upfront. They picked wickets and were patient. All the four seamers did a good job, switching ends. It was pretty cold. You can be aggressive, and you can do a holding job. It was very pleasing as collective. It’s an important series for us, we want to put up a good show for the crowd. Hamilton is going to be a different challenge, the wicket is going to be different. It’s amazing to play in front of such crowd.
Charith Asalanka the losing skipper said : We knew that it was going to be hard as it was too windy. As professionals you need to play in any kind of conditions. Batting made it difficult for us and put us in this situation. I want to mention about their bowling, they bowled nicely in the powerplay. It was hard to come back after losing four wickets. We didn’t have enough runs at the end of the innings. We have to recollect ourselves. Need to turn the bad habits into good habits going forward.
Matt Henry Player of the Match for 4 for 19 said : Change of formats, getting back to ODI format, guys were excited. Great to get the series underway. We were trying to take it from both ends, taking wickets is important in this format. It is tough. Good thing of playing at home is adapting. Guys were clear on how they wanted to operate. You always try to grow your game. You need to understand the job you need to do at home. It’s going to be a big challenge at Hamilton.
A comfortable victory for NZ as they win by 9 wickets and go 1-0 up in the 3-match ODI series. Earlier in the day, NZ elected to bowl first on a greenish surface and their bowlers did an excellent job by taking early wickets in the powerplay. The Sri Lankans were put on the back foot pretty early in the match itself, and they couldn’t recover from those early blows.
The visitors somehow managed to crawl their way to 178, but it was never going to challenge the Blackcaps. In reply, Young and Ravindra got the hosts off to a good start with a 93-run stand for the opening wicket. Ravindra missed out on his fifty, but Young notched up his half-century and kept the run chase under control in the company of Mark Chapman. New Zealand eventually completed the run chase in the 27th over and made it look effortless’
New Zealand’s fast bowlers tore through Sri Lanka’s top order to set up a big win, before their own top three clinched it, Will Young hitting 90 not out off 86 balls in a nine-wicket victory.
On a grassy Basin Reserve pitch, on a cold day beset by biting southerlies, New Zealand had had Sri Lanka 23 for 4 by the end of the powerplay. There were resurgent innings from the likes of Avishka Fernando especially, but Sri Lanka never seemed headed to a healthy total. They were out for 178 in the 44th over. New Zealand ran that total down with 23.4 overs to spare.
It was Matt Henry who set the tone for the early exchanges with his first spell, and claimed the first wicket on his way to figures of 4 for 19 from ten overs. He caught Pathum Nissanka’s leading edge with a full away-seamer in the fifth over, the ball floating out to mid-off for a simple catch. In his first five overs, Matt Henry seamed the ball substantially, and conceded only six runs.
New Zealand were clinical across all departments and they deserve to go 1-0 up in the series. Will Sri Lanka manage to bounce back in the next game at Hamilton on 8th January 2025.