New Zealand

4:07 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The New Zealand season gets into full swing next week with a star-studded start to the Plunket Shield, and the arrival of England ahead of their T20I and Test series. With 25 players having completed a T20 training camp in Christchurch, the focus will now switch back to domestic action

11:28 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff There will be a major change in the New Zealand broadcast landscape next year after NZC entered into a six-year deal with streaming service Spark Sport to show all home cricket ending a relationship with Sky that dates back to 1995. Spark is showing the current rugby World Cup and

Sep 2, 2019 Big Picture There are no certainties when it comes to the T20 captaincy, but for now Lasith Malinga is the man entrusted with the build up to the T20 World Cup next year, and he’s clearly in a mood to experiment. In the first T20I, Malinga wanted to have a look at

9:54 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Batter Lauren Down and pace bowler Rosemary Mair have been handed their first New Zealand central contracts while Rachel Priest, who last played in 2017, returns to the list alongside Anna Peterson. Down, 24, has played nine ODIs and earlier this year scored a century against the Australia Governor-General’s XI.

9:45 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Doug Bracewell has joined Northamptonshire’s promotion push for the final three games of the County Championship season. New Zealand allrounder Bracewell returns to Wantage Road having represented Northamptonshire in a handful Championship matches last year. While Northants’ head coach, David Ripley, conceded that Bracewell wasn’t the club’s first target, he

3:00 AM ET Andrew Fidel Fernando Sri Lanka chose to bat v New Zealand For the third time in the T20 series, Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand. The hosts made two injury-forced changes to the XI that lost on Tuesday. Seam-bowling allrounder Lahiru Madushanka will make his

8:42 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Bob Carter has been named coach of the New Zealand Women’s team with a contract that will take him up to the end of 2021 World Cup on home soil. Carter, who has twice been assistant coach to the men’s team, replaces Haidee Tiffen who stood down from the tour

3:00 AM ET Big Picture With the series already wrapped up, New Zealand have the chance to seal just their second series clean sweep in a three-match T20I series, and their first away from home. However, they have an issue to deal with: a spate of injuries has thinned the squad to just eleven fit,

10:11 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand could be battling to find eleven fit players for the final T20I against Sri Lanka after picking up a raft of injuries. Ross Taylor was ruled out of the second match with a hip injury, Martin Guptill was unable to bat after straining a stomach muscle in the

3:00 AM ET Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat v New Zealand Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first in the second T20I in Pallekele, just as they had in the first match. Both teams have made one change each. The hosts have swapped out seam bowler Kasun Rajitha for left-arm wristspinner

11:22 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the ongoing T20 series against Sri Lanka with a fractured thumb. Ferguson sustained the injury at training on Friday, while fielding. X-rays revealed a “small fracture to the middle joint”, according to an official release. “It’s a shame for

3:00 AM ET Sri Lanka chose to bat in the first T20 in Pallekele – the start slightly delayed due to rain. The hosts will field offspinner Akila Dananjaya, despite his action being currently under suspicion by the ICC. Making his T20 international debut, meanwhile, is legspinning allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga. Kasun Rajitha, Isuru Udana and

3:00 AM ET Big Picture With the World Cup done and the Test Championship underway, both sides now switch focus to the next big limited-overs prize: the T20 World Cup, which is set to be contested at the end of next year. As with just about everything in these team’s cricket at present, it is

3:00 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealanders 168 for 6 (Taylor 53*, Munro 48, Hasaranga 2-35) beat Sri Lanka Board President’s XI 135 for 9 (Kuggeleijn 4-14, Sodhi 3-43) by 33 runs The last time we saw Colin Munro, he was struggling to keep his place in the New Zealand side, eventually elbowed out as

3:00 AM ET Innings New Zealand 431 for 6 dec (Latham 154, Watling 105*, de Grandhomme 83, Dilruwan 3-114) lead Sri Lanka 244 (De Silva 109, Karunaratne 65, Southee 4-63, Boult 3-75) by 187 runs Colin de Grandhomme holed out second ball of the final day for 83, but BJ Watling unleashed his attacking avatar

11:52 AM ET Tom Latham is in the form of his life, in Tests. Having made 154 in the first innings to give New Zealand a chance of winning a rain-afflicted Test at P Sara, he now has a stunning four scores of over 150 in his last eight innings. Although his team has had

3:29 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand’s legbreak-bowling allrounder Amelia Kerr has signed with Brisbane Heat for the upcoming season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). She joins Australia’s Beth Mooney, Delissa Kimmince and Jess Jonassen as the players with international experience in the Heat squad. Kerr, 18, has already played 29 ODIs and

3:00 AM ET Lunch New Zealand 1 for 0 trail Sri Lanka 244 (De Silva 109, Southee 4-63, Boult, 3-75) by 243 runs Dhananjaya de Silva‘s chancy but classy century formed the centerpiece of Sri Lanka’s rescue act against New Zealand on the third morning at P Sara Oval. De Silva had stepped out to

8:48 AM ET How does Trent Boult maintain a near-blinding standard over so many years, and across so many formats? Before rain washed out two further sessions of play in Colombo on Friday, Boult became the third New Zealand bowler to 250 Test wickets during a double-wicket maiden that perhaps swung the match in New

3:00 AM ET Lunch Sri Lanka 140 for 6 (Dhananjaya de Silva 30*, Dilruwan Perara 3*) v New Zealand Two double-wicket maidens by New Zealand’s seam-bowling duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee bookended an opening session that left Sri Lanka struggling on the second day of the second Test. Sri Lanka had resumed on

Dilruwan Perera celebrates a breakthrough © Associated Press Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat v New Zealand Sri Lanka’s captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and opted to bat in the second Test against New Zealand at the P Sara Oval after a persistent drizzle had wiped out the entire morning session. The hosts made

3:00 AM ET Big Picture Chaos has been a constant in Sri Lankan cricket in 2019. Captaincy change – check; coach sacking – check; interim committee – check; sports ministry interference – check; contract terminations – check. Yet, quite incredibly, Sri Lanka are on a three-match winning streak in Tests, on the verge of consecutive

11:27 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and senior pacer Trent Boult have been rested for the T20 leg of the ongoing Sri Lanka tour. In Williamson’s absence, Tim Southee will lead a squad that includes a fit-again big-hitting keeper-batsman Tim Seifert and three spin options in Mitchell Santner, Todd Astle and

2:39 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff New Zealand women’s captain Amy Satterthwaite will be taking an indefinite break from cricket as she prepares to have her first child with her wife and team-mate Lea Tahuhu. A New Zealand Cricket statement said Satterthwaite will return to the game “when the time is right”, but she will continue

Dimuth Karunaratne celebrates his Test century © AFP Sri Lanka 249 (Dickwella 61, Mendis 53, Patel 5-89, Somerville 3-83) and 259 for 4 (Karunaratne 122, Thirimanne 64, Mathews 25*) beat New Zealand 249 (Taylor 86, Nicholls 42, Akila 5-80, Lakmal 4-29) and 285 (Watling 77, Latham 45, Embuldeniya 4-99, De Silva 3-25) by six wickets

6:00 AM ET Yes, the previous best chase at this venue was only worth 99, and sure, 268 seemed like an excellent total to defend, but this particular surface got slower, not harder to bat on. So, at least, said Kane Williamson after New Zealand’s six-wicket defeat. His analysis was not without strong evidence. New

Will Somerville taps one through the off side © Getty Images Lunch Sri Lanka 267 and 0 for no loss need 268 runs to beat New Zealand 249 and 285 (Watling 77, Latham 45, Somerville 40, Embuldeniya 4-99) At the end of day three, with New Zealand’s lead at 177 with three wickets in hand,

11:05 AM ET If New Zealand are the team that do great things that barely get noticed in the wider cricket world, BJ Watling is the New Zealand of New Zealand. Pull up to a cricket ground when he is in action and watch him closely. Take in his every movement, observe every run he

Niroshan Dickwella cuts © Getty Images Innings Sri Lanka 267 (Dickwella 61, Lakmal 40, Patel 5-89) lead New Zealand 249 by 18 runs After being ignored for the 2019 World Cup and then missing the cut for the ODI series at home against Bangladesh, Niroshan Dickwella proved his worth to the Test side with a

11:39 AM ET Much like the Sri Lanka seam bowler, the New Zealand spinner is a second-class citizen. If you’re not bowling with the seam upright and at at least 120kph, the place is practically designed to make you feel insecure. Early in the summer, pitches can be virtually indistinguishable from the outfield. In the