NZ vs SL Match Prediction & Betting Tips - Apr 02, 2023
Sri Lanka will be looking to make a fresh beginning as it faces New Zealand in the 1st of a 3-match T20 series beginning on Sunday at Auckland.
The visitors haven’t been able to register even a single win on this tour as they lost both, the Test Series as well as the One-Day series by a margin of 2-0.
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Head-to-head
The two teams have faced each other on 20 occasions in T20s where New Zealand has won 11 times, while Sri Lanka has won just 8.
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Live-streaming and broadcast
No TV channels have purchased the broadcasting rights for this series in India. However, fans can live-stream the game on Amazon Prime app or website.
NZ vs SL Team Previews
New Zealand
New Zealand has been close to flawless as they dominated a listless Sri Lanka in both, the Tests, as well as the ODIs. But they will have to strive a bit harder to maintain their unblemished record on this tour as they will be playing without some of their key players here.
The players who will be missing from the New Zealand side include Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, as well as Lockie Ferguson, all of whom will be participating in the IPL. Tom Latham, who did an excellent job of leading his team in the ODIs will once again don the skipper’s hat and will play an important role in the middle order.
Chad Bowes and Will Young are likely to open the batting for the team and will be hoping to get a good start, while Daryl Mitchell and Tim Seifert will look to build the innings in the middle overs. James Neesham, who last played an international T20 in the home series against India, will most likely get a chance to play here along with Rachin Ravindra.
New Zealand has a strong pace attack consisting of Matt Henry, Henry Shipley, and Daryl Mitchell, while Ish Sodhi is the only full-time spinner in the squad.
New Zealand Playing 11
Tom Latham, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Chad Bowes, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Benjamin Lister, Henry Shipley.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has a more or less unchanged squad from the ODIs for the T20 series and they will be looking to put up a better performance here.
Dushmantha Chameera will be unable to join the team due to an ankle injury and will be replaced by Pramod Madushan. Pathum Nissanka and Nuwanidu Fernando are once again expected to open the batting for the visitors. Nissanka scored a half-century in the last ODI and the team will be banking on him to put up another solid performance here.
The team has a long list of all-rounders who will fill in the middle order and will have to shoulder the scoring responsibilities toward the end of the inning. However, the likes of Dasun Shanaka, Charith Asalanka, and Dhananjaya de Silva haven’t been in the best of forms with the bat.
Chamika Karunaratne and Lahiru Kumara will lead the pace attack while Kasun Rajitha will hope to give good support to them. Sri Lanka has an excellent slower bowler in the form of Wanindu Hasaranga, who can play an important role in this match.
Sri Lanka Playing 11
Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanidu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan.
NZ vs SL Toss Prediction
The team winning the toss will likely opt to bowl first here.
Read our guide on toss predictions to learn how we analyze and come up with our tips.
Pitch and Conditions
The surface at Eden Park is pretty flat and excellent to bat on. The ball comes on nicely to the bat, making it easy for the batsmen to play their shots. That said, the quicker bowlers are likely to find some assistance here as the pitch does tend to offer some movement off the seam and also some swing, especially early on in the game.
The average first-inning score here is around 160, which is a par score. The weather is likely to remain cloudy with temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius.
NZ vs SL Betting Tips
While New Zealand is missing some of their key players, we think that they have enough strength in their squad to overcome any challenge that the visitors might throw at them. Sri Lanka has appeared rudderless on most occasions and will have to come up with something special if they want to win here.
Bet on New Zealand to win.
Bonus Cricket Bets
While most of the Sri Lankan batsmen have struggled to perform in the one-day series, Pathum Nissanka stood out by hitting a well-deserved half-century in the final ODI. He has a great temperament and has been in good form over the last few months. That’s why we are expecting him to be the top scorer for Sri Lanka in this match.
Who will win NZ vs SL
Powered by
We are eager to know what you think of our match predictions, if there is anything we can do better or if you want to let us know your own predictions for the match.