New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 198 runs in their 1st ODI 2023

New Zealand completely dominated Sri Lanka to win the 1st ODI match easily. When Sri Lanka was trying to score runs, they did not play well. Henry Shipley did a great job at the start of the match by taking early wickets, and the Sri Lankan players did not make good choices when they tried to hit the ball.

By batting first, New Zealand set a target of 274 runs in 49.3 overs. Finn Allen batted sensibly and scored 51 runs playing 49 balls. The other New Zealand batters, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell contributed 49 and 47 runs respectively.

In the first 10 overs of the match, Sri Lanka had lost five of their players, which made it very hard for them to win. Only Angelo Mathews from the top order of Sri Lankan players scored more than ten runs. Finally, Sri Lanka was all out for a small score of 76 runs. Shipley was the best bowler for New Zealand as he took 5 wickets for only 31 runs in 7 overs.

Sri Lanka will have to be honest with themselves when they analyze the game, and they will realize that they were responsible for many of their mistakes. Some players got out trying to hit balls that were too far away from them, while others got out trying to hit short balls when they did not need to. This loss is disappointing for Sri Lanka because they needed to win this series to qualify for the World Cup later this year. They will need to improve very quickly if they want to keep their hopes alive.