New Zealand ‘can produce goods’, while Sri Lanka say it is 50-50

New Zealand might be a small country but a strong sporting heritage, and a humility across all codes, puts last tournament’s finalists in a strong position, according to former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick.

“Kane Williamson and the guys have produced the goods over the last few years and hopefully playing in England, which a lot of the guys are very familiar with, will deliver a World Cup for us,” he said.

An impressive win over an unmotivated India side, followed by a batting onslaught wreaked by the West Indies, made for a tumultuous couple of warm-up matches for the Black Caps. However, they will hope that this varied experience will have settled a few uncertainties within the starting line-up as they take on Sri Lanka, perhaps the least-favoured side of the World Cup, in Cardiff today.

The swing supremos of Trent Boult and Tim Southee look set to open the bowling, with Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham having impressed as the firstchange options. Tom Latham will hope to recover from a finger injury in time to take the gloves while the wicketkeeper in his absence, Tom Blundell, who hit an 89-ball 106 in the last warm-up, stakes a claim as a batsman alone. Meanwhile, Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka captain, was left clutching at hopes, prayers and a history of performing when the odds are against them when it came to their chances.

“Sri Lankan cricket has always been unsettled,” Jayawardene told the BBC, referencing the corruption allegations enveloping the board, and the large political influence which accompanies selection. “So, one good thing is that usually the team finds a way to come out of that and perform, so I’ve got money on them doing the same thing.” Sri Lanka hope history does not repeat itself as they lost their 2015 World Cup opener to New Zealand.

The Black Caps also claimed a 3-0 ODI home series win over Sri Lanka at the start of the year.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne said: “If we perform really well in all three departments, I think we can definitely beat the Kiwis.

“It’s a 50-50 game. It doesn’t matter who are the underdogs. If you’re doing really well in that particular day or time, you can win a game.