New Zealand will be hoping for more of the same from captain Brendon McCullum as they look to secure a place in the World Twenty20 semi-finals at the expense of Sri Lanka today.
The teams head into their final Group 1 encounter in Chittagong on four points apiece from three games and knowing the winners at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium will advance, along with South Africa, to the last four.
The Black Caps will surely fancy their chances if McCullum can continue the form which on Saturday saw him become the first man to surpass 2,000 Twenty20 international runs.
Paceman Trent Boult was full of praise for New Zealand’s opponents and for McCullum, revealing the skipper’s achievement meant a lot to the whole team.
“It’s pretty well known across the world what kind of player Brendon is,” Boult said. “For him to tick up that milestone is pretty satisfying for him personally and something the team love to see.
“We went in with a lot of confidence and we knew we could deliver but it wasn’t a guaranteed win. We needed to play well. They’re a quality side, the Dutch. A lot of the players stood up and contributed and got us that win in the end.”
Lasith Malinga will captain Sri Lanka in the absence of regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who will serve a one-match suspension as punishment for slow over-rates.
Sri Lanka headed into the tournament full of confidence having won the Asia Cup, and posted comfortable wins against South Africa and Holland before their smooth progress was halted by a six-wicket loss to England .
Mahela Jayawardene looks set to make the starting XI despite dislocating a finger when attempting to take a catch to dismiss England centurion Alex Hales. Legspinningallrounder Seekkuge Prasanna may replace Ajantha Mendis.
New Zealand (likely): Kane Williamson, Mark Guptill, Brendon McCullum (capt).,Ross Taylor, James Neesham, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (wk), Nathan Mccullum, Trent Boult, Kyle Mills, Mitchell Mcclenaghan
Sri Lanka (likely): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga (capt), Rangana Herath
