Neesham prioritises bowling
ian.anderson@stuff.co.nz Scoreboard from the first one-day international at Mount Maunganui.
NEW ZEALAND M Guptill c Sandakan b T Perera ................... 138 C Munro c Sandakan b Malinga ........................ 13 K Williamson b Pradeep ....................................... 76 R Taylor c Prasanna b T Petera ........................ 54 H Nicholls run out .................................................... 15 T Seifert c K Perera b Malinga ............................ 11 J Neesham not out ................................................. 47 M Henry c T Perera b Pradeep ........................... 6 I Sodhi not out ............................................................. 0 Extras (2lb, 4nb, 5w) ................................................. 11 Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) .............................. 371 Fall: 23, 186, 274, 294, 316, 317, 363. Bowling: L Malinga 10-0-78-2 (4w, 2nb), N Pradeep 8-0-72-2 (1nb), T Perera 10-0-80-2 (1nb), S Prasanna 10-0-60-0, L Sandakan 10-0-64-0, D Gunaratne 1-0-5-0, D Gunathilaka 1-0-10-0.
SRI LANKA N Dickwella b Neesham ....................................... 76 D Gunathilaka c Seifert b Neesham ............... 43 K Perera c Seifert b Boult .................................. 102 K Mendis c Seifert b Sodhi ................................... 18 D Chandimal c Taylor b Neesham .................. 10 D Guranaratne c Ferguson b Sodhi ................. 11 T Perera c Munro b Ferguson .............................. 4 S Prasanna c Seifert b Ferguson ...................... 16 L Malinga b Henry ..................................................... 11 L Sandakan b Boult .................................................. 6 N Pradeep not out ..................................................... 6 Extras (1b, 10lb, 1nb, 11w) ...................................... 23 Total (all out, 49 overs) .................................... 326. Fall: 119, 126, 178, 211, 267, 273, 298, 303, 310, 326. Bowling: T Boult 10-0-65-2 (3w), M Henry 10-0-87-1 (1nb), L Ferguson 10-0-65-2 (1w), I Sodhi 10-0-53-2 (4w), J Neesham 8-0-38-3 (3w), C Munro 1-0-7-0. Result: New Zealand won by 45 runs, lead three-match series 1-0. everything right and my fingertips release the ball properly then it’ll come out as quick as any all-rounder around.’’
His whirlwind innings came without any great expectation though.
‘‘I had probably the three worst nets of my life in the three days leading up to the game,’’ he laughed.
‘‘I just decided I’d try and take a couple of balls from [Lasith] Malinga at the other end and then get going with the wind from the other end.’’ Scott Dixon has been labelled ‘‘the prototypical legendary race car driver’’ and edged Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton as accolades continue for New Zealand’s IndyCar star. American outfit Autoweek named Dixon as their driver of the year and ranked his achievement of winning his fifth IndyCar title as their biggest story of 2018 ahead of Hamilton winning his fifth F1 title. They said Dixon put ‘‘three of open-wheel racing’s alltime greats in his rearview mirror’’ when his fifth title broke a tie with Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti. Now only the great AJ Foyt stands alone atop the mountain with seven titles. IndyCar CEO Mark Miles insisted that Dixon set the benchmark as the 38-year-old eyed the starting grid to a new year and a fresh challenge. ‘‘He is superb as a competitor. He is hard-nosed and never gives up, but he’s a sportsman at the same time.’’ New Zealand basketballer Steven Adams has featured on the first list of fan voting for next month’s NBA All-Star game. The Oklahoma City Thunder centre has tallied the sixth most votes for a forward in the Western Conference, with 261,327. While that’s 26,055 ahead of seventhplaced Nikola Jokic, it’s still a whopping 318,728 behind Thunder team-mate Paul George, meaning the Kiwi 25-year-old will still struggle to be a starter and instead probably rely on being a reserve. Fan choices account for half the voting, while the other 50 per cent is from players and media.