Series: Sri Lanka tour New Zealand, 2023
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test 9th march 2023 morning three thirty am
Venue: Hagley Oval, Christchurch
New Zealand and Sri Lanka will lock horns in the opening Test of their two-match series on Thursday, March 9. The Hagley Oval in Christchurch will host the contest.
The Black Caps, led by Tim Southee, have named an unchanged squad for the upcoming series after the two Tests against Ben Stokes’ England. The Kiwis were beaten black and blue in the opening Test,
but came back to win the second Test by a slender margin of a run.
Neil Wagner bowled a bouncer and all James Anderson could do was glove it down the leg side to keeper Tom Blundell. The hosts will now be looking to put in a clinical showing against Sri Lanka,
who have struggled in overseas Tests for some time now.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are still in the race to advance to the final of the World Test Championship 2021-23 to be played later this year. To start with, they need to beat New Zealand 2-0 in the upcoming series.
Moreover, Australia need to beat India in the final Test in Ahmedabad.
In that case, Sri Lanka will become the second finalists along with Australia after pushing India down to third in the points table. The Lankans have lost both their Tests in Christchurch thus far in 2014 and 2018.
Pitch Report
Since 2021, statistics show that the pitch tends to get worse as the match progresses. Hence, batting first should be the way forward.
Fast bowlers are expected to get a lot of movement and it’s not going to be easy for the batters.
Weather Forecast
There are chances of rain on four out of five days, which could lead to delays and interruptions. Clouds will be there and the sun will hardly be there.
Temperatures will be around 22 degree Celsius.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH BATSMEN Devon Conway, Kane Williamson,Dimuth Karunaratne , Kusal Mendis
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH BOWLERS Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
Prediction: New Zealand have won eight out of 11 Test matches at Hagley Oval so far. They have only lost to Australia (2016) and South Africa (2022). The Black Caps will go into the game as the heavy favorites.
New Zealand will win this match.
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