Wisden
Tour review

New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 2014-15

Mark Geenty


New Zealand celebrate their 2-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka, New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Wellington, 5th day, January 7, 2015
New Zealand celebrate their 2-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka © AFP
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Test matches (2): New Zealand 2, Sri Lanka 0
One-day internationals (7): New Zealand 4, Sri Lanka 2

With memories of two natural disasters in everyone's minds, this was a tour of renewal and reconstruction - for Christchurch, above all. A fine, clear, Boxing Day morning marked a decade since the Indian Ocean tsunami had devastated Sri Lanka and caused their cricketers to abandon a tour of New Zealand. And Dunedin's emergence as a popular alternative venue in South Island, followed by the devastating 2011 earthquake which flattened New Zealand's second city, had left cricket lovers there bereft of Test matches since Sri Lanka's visit in December 2006.

The old stadium at Lancaster Park was still standing, but it was buckled, derelict and overgrown, with no firm decision on its future. Its replacement, Hagley Oval, glistened with a new pavilion during the First Test, the first oneday international and the unveiling of New Zealand's World Cup squad.

The 50-over game was a dress rehearsal for the opening game of the World Cup, against Sri Lanka on Valentine's Day, when temporary seating would swell the capacity to almost 20,000. Hagley Oval is more or less Brendon McCullum's backyard, and he treated it as such, paving the way for a series dominated by the hosts. The New Zealand captain clouted 11 sixes in his opening-day 195, and was caught on the boundary attempting another, which would have taken him to his fourth Test double-century of 2014. Then, clad in black, he set the tone for a one-day run-fest by blasting 51 off 22 balls at Christchurch to get New Zealand flying towards an emphatic series win.

Remarkably, his sixth-wicket Test-record partnership of 352 with B-J. Watling, set against India at Wellington, stood for just 11 months: it was now broken at the same venue by Watling and Kane Williamson. Records tumbled in the one-day series, too: Luke Ronchi blasted 170 not out at Dunedin, the format's highest score from No. 7, and shared another unbroken sixth-wicket record stand, 267 with Grant Elliott, who made a successful return to the middle order.

Sri Lanka's batsmen, coming off a home one-day series win against England, struggled to adjust to two green Test pitches offering bounce and seam movement, and New Zealand's pace bowlers all the help they needed. The absence of Mahela Jayawardene from the middle order for the first time in years did not help. They were mostly limited to lone rangers: Dimuth Karunaratne - recalled to open in place of Upul Tharanga - made 152 in the follow-on at Christchurch, and Kumar Sangakkara an imperious 203 at Wellington. That gave Sri Lanka a sizeable lead, only for Williamson and Watling to blow it apart.

With the World Cup round the corner, Jayawardene was back for the seven one-day matches, and immediately made his presence felt with a century in a losing cause at Christchurch. Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Tillekeratne Dilshan scored 996 runs between them, but none of the supporting cast - among them Lahiru Thirimanne, who stood in as captain for the last three matches, with Angelo Mathews injured - mustered even a fifty. Another crucial absentee was Lasith Malinga, who accompanied the one-day squad as he recovered from an ankle injury. Without him, Sri Lanka's seamers were exposed by powerful batsmen on small grounds.

Match reports for

Tour Match: New Zealand Chairman's XI v Sri Lankans at Queenstown, Dec 21-22, 2014
Scorecard

1st Test: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Christchurch, Dec 26-29, 2014
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2nd Test: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Wellington, Jan 3-7, 2015
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1st ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Christchurch, Jan 11, 2015
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2nd ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Hamilton, Jan 15, 2015
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3rd ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Auckland, Jan 17, 2015
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4th ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Nelson, Jan 20, 2015
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5th ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Dunedin, Jan 23, 2015
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6th ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Dunedin, Jan 25, 2015
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7th ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Wellington, Jan 29, 2015
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South Africa v Sri Lanka at Christchurch, Feb 9, 2015
Scorecard

Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at Lincoln, Feb 11, 2015
Scorecard

1st Match, Pool A: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Christchurch, Feb 14, 2015
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12th Match, Pool A: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka at Dunedin, Feb 22, 2015
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18th Match, Pool A: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Melbourne, Feb 26, 2015
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22nd Match, Pool A: England v Sri Lanka at Wellington, Mar 1, 2015
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32nd Match, Pool A: Australia v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Mar 8, 2015
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35th Match, Pool A: Scotland v Sri Lanka at Hobart, Mar 11, 2015
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1st Quarter-Final: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Mar 18, 2015
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