Having played 6.5 ODI's against each other before this first match of the World Cup, you could be forgiven if these two teams were sick of the sight of each other before the toss was made.
Perhaps the biggest error came after Angelo Mathews won the toss, and decided to insert New Zealand - surely a mistake in such a big tournament.
New Zealand was sublime in moving smoothly to a total of 6/331 with everyone barring Ross Taylor making a score. Best of all was for the Black Caps was the innings of Martin Guptill, who played sensibly and serenely in making 49 at the top of the order. Corey Anderson's belligerence in the death overs along with Luke Ronchi put the total from a good one which would trouble their opponents to an almost unbeatable one.
Sri Lanka's bowling for the most part is just not up to it. Malinga looked underdone, and should improve in worth as the tournament progresses. Mathews probably erred by not bowling himself at the end of the innings, and whether that is from trying to protect his own figures or a genuine belief his other bowlers were better suited is open to opinion.
In reply Sri Lanka appeared to be cruising at 1/124 in the 22nd over, but then lost Thirimanne, Jayawardene and Sangakkara for five runs in eleven balls, which finished the match as a contest. Southee and Vettori were fantastic for the Kiwis, while Adam Milne bowled extremely lively, and showed he is going to be a handful in the future.
In the end, all of the questions that were answered in the previous three weeks were reinforced here. New Zealand are at the top of their game, and if their squad stays fit they are a big chance of winning the World Cup. Sri Lanka are an ageing outfit, with little bowling, and relying heavily on Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara to score enough runs (about 350) for them to win a game. They will no doubt make the quarter final stage, but the chances of progressing past that are very very slim.
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