NZ vs SL 2023, 1st ODI: Henry Shipley's maiden five-for crush Sri Lanka in Auckland by 198 runs

New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 198 runs in the first ODI at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday. Chasing 275, the Sri Lankan team skittled on a mere 76, courtesy of a maiden five-wicket haul by lanky seamer Henry Shipley.

Asked to bat first after losing the toss, the hosts started well, hitting boundaries early on. Making his debut, opener Chad Bowes struck two fours before getting out to Lahiru Kumara inside the sixth over. Kiwi’s highest-scorer in the game, Finn Allen (51), got company from Will Young (26) and Daryl Mitchell (47) in the middle oversbefore Glenn Philips and another debutant Rachin Ravindra made inroads later in the game with scores of 39 and 49, respectively.

An all-around batting show from New Zealand saw them reach 274 in 49.3 overs.

The chase didn’t go the way Sri Lanka would have wanted. After Philips and Latham accounted for the opening wicket of Nuwanidu Fernando via run-out, New Zealand seamer Shipley tore into Lanka’s top order with two peaches. He first got rid of Pathum Nissanka on nine and then dismissed Kusal Mendis on a 16-ball duck.

Veteran all-rounder and the man-in-form for Sri Lanka Angelo Mathews then tried saving their sinking ship with a few fours, but the middle order didn’t look like having answers to Shipley’s brilliant bowling that reduced Sri Lanka to 46 for six at one stage.

Down and out, Sri Lanka didn’t have much to fight for as medium-pacer Mitchell further returned to dent their hopes by picking two wickets. Other than him, right-hand seamer Blair Tickner also picked two wickets.

A dominant show with the ball in hand resulted in Sri Lanka getting dismissed on just 76, going down 1-0 in the three-match series.

The second ODI is scheduled on March 28th at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.