Settled New Zealand take aim at ragtag Sri Lanka
New Zealand's turbo-aggressive yet endearing cricket turned a rugby-mad nation into a cricket-loving country in 2015. Brendon McCullum, the (Super)man who was at the forefront of New Zealand's surge then, will breathe easy in the commentary box this time. Sure, Kane Williamson hates it - but the focus will be on him this time. The current New Zealand captain is more endearing than turbo-aggressive, and he recently led the side to No. 2 in the Test rankings, for the first time. Can New Zealand go one step better in the 2019 World Cup?
New Zealand had suffered a premature exit in the 2017 Champions Trophy in England - partly due to the absence of bonafide power-hitters on flat pitches - but they have now remedied that. The latest version of James Neesham can go boom from ball one - just ask Thisara Perera. The latest version of Mitchell Santner and big-hitting allrounder Colin de Grandhomme can provide more spark with the bat in the lower order.
But there's a major concern right at the top. Colin Munro is no longer the white-ball monster who spooks bowlers and was struck flush on the foot by a Jasprit Bumrah yorker in the first warm-up and missed the second game against West Indies. Henry Nicholls got the rather unexpected nod to open alongside Martin Guptill in four ODIs at home earlier this year and gave a good account of himself. He looks set to bed in at the top - whether Munro is fit or not.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka have had a more chaotic build-up to the tournament: they nearly missed automatic qualification and all told they have lost 41 of the 55 ODIs they have played since the start of 2017.
Dimuth Karunaratne, who has played all of one ODI since the previous World Cup, finds himself in the middle of chaos as the captain. Despite the promise of Kusal Mendis and the experience of Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka's batting line-up doesn't quite make you sit up and take notice of them. Oh, and their fielding can make you lol.
Sri Lanka's two-in-one players Thisara and Isuru Udana will have to do the heavy lifting if they are to spring a surprise.
