After absolutely decimating Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the series, New Zealand will aim to seal the series in the third match on April 8 at John Davies Oval in Queenstown. Notably, their skipper Kane Williamson along with Tim Southee, Finn Allen, Mitchell Santner and many others, are not part of the series at the moment, but they have played some brilliant cricket so far.
Henry Shipley has been sensational with the ball in the ongoing series, while Adam Milne clinched a brilliant five-for to dismantle the Lankan Lions in the second T20I. With the bat, Tim Seifart smashed 79* runs off 43 deliveries and was at his meticulous best and will aim to keep up with the same form. If he manages to give NZ a good start, it will definitely boost New Zealand’s chances of going all the way in the series.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played really well in the opening game of the T20I series, but unfortunately, in the second match, lost wickets in clusters as the Dasum Shanka-led side posted only 141 runs on the board. Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva looked promising in the middle, but once they got out, it all went downhill.
Meanwhile, the bowlers leaked a lot of runs and will need to improve drastically. The bowling arsenal are overly dependent on the spinners, and they absolutely failed to fire in the previous match. Thus, there are a lot of concerns that the team management needs to address.
Pitch & Conditions:
The surface at University Oval is likely to favour the batters. The pacers will likely get some advantage in the initial overs, and the captain winning the toss should elect to bowl first. Anything over 170 will be a good total on this wicket.
Probable Playing XIs for NZ vs SL, 3rd T20I:
New Zealand
No changes are expected from the Kiwis. Special focus will be on Tim Seifart and Adam Milne, who were spectacular in the second T20I.
Probable Playing XI: Chad Bowes, Tim Seifert, Tom Latham (wk/c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Adam Milne, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Ben Lister
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka are not expected to make any changes either. They meanwhile will be hoping for a better performance from the batters while pacers will also play a vital role in the game.
Probable Playing XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan, Kasun Rajitha
NZ vs SL Head-to-Head in T20Is:
Played – 22 Tied – 0