Cricket: NZ vs Sri Lanka Test Series

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A 2 match test series gets underway Wednesday evening UK time and for UK residents is live on Sky Sports. Series Odds

Best odds/All odds
New Zealand	1.83	1.8	1.66	1.72	1.83	1.7
Draw	2.87	2.75	3	3	2.75	3.1
Sri Lanka	4.5	5	5.5	5	5	5.5

10pts NZ vs SL Drawn Test Series 2/1 Ladbrokes 2 very evenly matched, well coached and well led sides do battle in the Southern Hemisphere in what looks an intriguing series of Test Cricket. Slightly overshadowed by The Ashes but none the less this will be a tight competitive series. New Zealand have recalled opening batsman Matthew Sinclair to their squad for the 1st test to baulk up their batting a bit. Domestically he's been playing well and has earnt his recall. Lots will depend on Fleming and Astle with the bat as they look to take a fairly inexperienced batting lineup through this series. Their bowling looks strong though, that's assuming Shane Bond is fit for the series. If he is then the attack will consist of Bond, Oram, Martin, Franklin and Vettori which does the job. Sri Lanka come to NZ in good form and have really took to Mahela Jayawardene's captaincy. He's a class act and alongside Kumar Sangakkara in the batting order, you feel Sri Lanka are destined to score lots of runs, particularly when Jayasuriya and Tharanga are included. It's Sri Lanka's bowling that has really come on over the last 12 months though. Murali and Vaas have always been superb performers at this level but now they are sufficiently backed up by the ever able Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof with Dilhara Fernando on the outskirts. This 2 game series looks like being really tight. As I said both sides are fairly evenly matched and the edge Sri lanka get in the 2 sides strength and quality is negated by NZ being at home. Of the 11 tests played in NZ between these 2, no fewer than 5 have been draws. The pitches in New Zealand tend to last the full 5 days and with both sides able to bat right down to number 9 I can quite easily see this series ending as it begins - all square. 3pts Correct Score 0-0 5/1 Bet365 As I've said in my series preview these 2 sides are evenly matched and both play good, hard, gritty cricket these days. The pitches in New Zealand are perfectly fine thanks to the drop in system they use and rain isn't out of the question at this time of the year. Both sides bat right the way down to number 9. 1st innings will be crucial in the series and I can see both sides racking up a few runs while the pitches are good and in the 2 game series an opportunity for either side to gain the initiative maynot be forthcoming. 2 draws would not be out of the question and I'm happy to back 0-0 here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: NZ vs Sri Lanka Test Series 1 more series bet before I get onto the 1st test. 10pts S.Fleming Top NZ Series bat 5/2 Ladbrokes Stephen Fleming is a class act, and seems to enjoy playing against Sri Lanka. He's made over 1000 test match runs against Sri Lanka in 11 test matches at an average of 68, which included a knock of 274* in Colombo 3 years ago. Fleming was the main stay of the Kiwi batting in the recent Champions Trophy and with the hosts being without Scott Styris and choosing not to pick Lou Vincent for this series lots will depend on Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle. Fleming though is a captain that leads from the front and when his country needs him he nearly always produces. The skipper to top score for me.