World Cup 2019, Match 3, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka: Why Sri Lanka will win the match

The 12th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup has kickstarted on a great note as the host nation England and dark horses West Indies have already secured their first wins of the tournament. It has been a very disappointing start for South Africa and Pakistan as they have lost their first matches by handsome margins. As the tournament progresses, it would be interesting to see how all the 10 teams perform in this mega event.

As per the schedule, the world will witness 2 matches on Day 3 of the 2019 World Cup. Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia and Afghanistan would be the four teams which would play on the first double-header of the World Cup. The first match of the day will take place between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, which will be played at Cardiff.

Both the teams are looking equally good on paper as they have some great stars in their side. It would be exciting to see how the sides perform in the English conditions which are quite orthodox and unpredictable. The difficulty among the players would increase even further as this would be the first game to be played in Cardiff.

It seems like Sri Lanka have a slight upper hand heading into this contest thanks to their bowling unit. The side has got the likes of Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep in their match squad which might prove to be handy on this track. The trio can conquer any of the batting line-ups if the situation goes in their favour.

The Lankan side will also try to use their all-rounders to their maximum potential. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera are the two stars who could prove to be the difference-makers between the two sides as they will contribute to all the departments.

Lasith Malinga would be the X-factor for the Lankan side as he might prove vital in the swinging conditions of England. Sri Lanka’s hopes will completely depend on their bowling attack because their batsmen are not their main strength and given that Sri Lanka know how to handle the big-match pressure better than New Zealand, expect Dimuth Karunaratne’s men to get off to a winning start.