2015 ICC World Cup, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: 5 things to look forward to

The curtain raiser of the World Cup is going to be played between two similar countries. New Zealand and Sri Lanka are both cricket and rugby crazy nations, besides being two of the most underrated cricket teams in the world.The two sides have played each other in a 7-match ODI series very recently and everything about what to expect is completely known, with a victory for New Zealand being highly likely.Here are 5 things to look forward to in the upcoming battle:

#1 Lasith Malingas return

Lasith Malinga will be coming back to competitive cricket after a long injury lay-off, and it will be interesting to see if he can assist Sri Lanka’s ailing bowling unit in arresting their slide.

Though he bowled without any discernible discomfort in the two warm-up games, his radar was wayward with him finding it difficult to land his yorkers accurately.

According to a Sri Lankan cricket website, Russel Arnold has said that Malinga still has pain in his ankle, but Malinga’s resoluteness to play what would be his final World Cup, which flies in the face of pain, should inspire Sri Lanka.

The Lankan bowling has been awful at the death in recent times, leaking plenty of runs and the slinger’s return should go a long way towards stemming it. Should Malinga bowl with his usual menace, it could define Sri Lanka’s journey in this World Cup.

#2 The Kumar Sangakkara-Trent Boult battle

The mini-battle between the two southpaws can be expected to continue during the World Cup, after starting in the Test series and travelling through the ODI series.

Trent Boult had got the better of Kumar Sangakkara in the two innings of the first Test, but Sanga came back strongly to smash Boult all over the park, scoring his 11th Test double hundred in the second. The New Zealander returned the favour in the following innings as he dismissed Sanga for just 5 runs.

In the second ODI of the seven-match ODI series, Boult bent one back into Sangakkara and went for a vociferous appeal that was turned down. The very next ball, stoking fire to the rivalry, Sanga glided down the track elegantly and drove the ball on the up over long on like an ace painter slithering his brush upwards to create the perfect straight line.

Boult dismissed Sangakkara only once in the ODI series, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top in a contest that could decide the fate of the match tomorrow.

#3 Brendon McCullums onslaught

Brendon McCullum has been glittering with supernatural form of late, and his near-double ton against Sri Lanka in the first Test on the very first day in the same Hagley Oval ground completely damaged any hopes Sri Lanka had of winning the game.

Although the Kiwi captain looked threatening throughout the ODI series, he failed to convert his starts into big scores. The 33-year-old is a big-game player, and, who knows, he may put the pyrotechnics in the opening ceremony to shame by launching his own version of fireworks as he did in the opening game of the inaugural version of the IPL.

#4 Kane Williamson\'s magic wand

If spin is Sri Lankas strength, then there is Kane Williamson, who is New Zealands armour against the barbs of Sri Lankan spinners.

He has looked in imperious form throughout the last 12 months irrespective of the circumstances, and a Williamson special is all but assured to strike again, against Sri Lanka.

This will be the right-handers first World Cup as an established batsman in the New Zealand side, and its going to be fascinating to witness how he handles the pressures and expectations of playing a World Cup in front of his own fans.

#5 Sri Lankan team composition

Sri Lanka’s major headache for well over three years now has been their batting order, and it is going to continue into this World Cup too.

Dimuth Karunaratne was amongst the runs at No.4 in the two warm-up games, raising a possibility of him replacing Dinesh Chandimal, who has been batting a couple of places down from his favourite position, in the batting order.

Angelo Mathews, meanwhile, who has been batting at number five, will have to bat at No.6 to help Sri Lanka finish an innings to perfection, but this earnest request from fans and experts has thus far fallen on deaf ears. Will he finally pay heed?

Jeevan Mendis scored a fifty in the last warm-up game, and Sri Lanka will have to choose between Thisara Perera and Mendis for the number 7 position.