today on a two-month tour.

“I am confident that my team can do it. We got a good combination where we have five fast bowlers and two experienced spinners and a solid batting order. Unfortunately we couldn’t take (Asela) Gunaratne and (Niroshan) Dickwella but that is a good headache to have. We want all of them fighting for their spot and its upto all of us to go out there and do our best for the country,” Mathews continued.

“Our main objective is to win the Test, ODI and T20 series, but we are not looking too far ahead but take one game at a time. We want to play really good competitive cricket and stick to our basics. If we do our processes right as I always said and if we give our 100 percent and play to our potential we can beat anyone.

“Zimbabwe and South Africa are completely different teams this is going to be a much bigger challenge for us as a team. We are not taking anything away from the boys for the hard work they put in Zimbabwe but this is going to be a tougher tour.

“We’ve been training very hard especially the Test squad who were in Sri Lanka for the past one month or so. The ODI guys had a little bit of rest and they have started training as well. The preparation has been good but the main challenge is going to be getting used to the conditions over there and getting used to the wickets. If we play to our potential I am pretty sure that we can beat South Africa,” he said.

Mathews was of the view that to achieve that, the batters must put enough runs on the board.

“If we can give our bowlers a chance by putting the runs on the board our bowlers have not let us down. With the bowling attack we’ve got we have some really experienced bowlers,” said Mathews. “With Dushmantha Chameera coming back into the team and young Nipun Sanjaya earning his spot in the Test team we got a fairly decent pace attack which can put them under pressure, but we need to score runs as a batting unit. It’s going to be our main challenge the boys have worked extremely hard in the past few weeks.”

Mathews sees the bounce the South African pitches will offer as the main obstacle for his batsmen. To overcome that the Lankan team has been practicing on a piece of granite to get that extra bounce.

“The pace the boys are used to its just that the bounce and the conditions that we need to get used to. We used a lot of granite stuff especially the batters. We prepared wickets slightly harder and with a little bit of grass which has a lot of carry. We’ve done everything possible to try and counter attack the South African fast bowlers and get used to their conditions,” explained Mathews. “Sri Lankan conditions are much different to what you find in South Africa. We have about 12 days before we play our first Test match on Boxing Day. We’ll try and use those days to the maximum so that we get things right.

“When you use a piece of granite the ball is coming on to you quicker. The granite is laid down on the pitch and you can throw the ball on it so that it comes on quicker. Most of the teams do that. Our wickets are such it doesn’t have much bounce the only option to get bounce and pace is to use granite.”

Sizing up the opposition they are bound to encounter Mathews said, “South Africa has been playing really good cricket in the past few months beating Australia in Australia which is never an easy task but they managed to do that. But this is a new series and both teams are starting from zero. The team that plays better cricket and that does less mistakes will come out victorious.”

Mathews credited the South African team’s success is due to them having a settled team. “The South African team looks pretty much the same except for one or two changes they are pretty much a settled team for the past 4-5 years. They’ve been going with the same sort of players maximum 20. Yes, they have lost games here and there but they managed to stick with the same combination and same players and managed to get the maximum out of them. Chopping and changing the team is not going to help them in the longer run.

They have managed a set combination and now the results are showing. The settled combination is the one that has led to their success today. If you look at all the top teams they are pretty much settled. That’s a good thing we can also take from. We are now doing the same we talked about it a lot.

The solution is not to chop and change but be patient with the players and pursue with them to get the maximum out of them going forward.” Following the retirement of several seniors Mathews is saddled with a team that is in the process of rebuilding with several new faces but he is extremely happy the way the team has started to jell. “It feels great. It all started from the Australian series, when you win it’s always good and when you lose it’s a bit difficult on most occasions. All the pressure is on you. That’s the nature of the game but the team has stuck together, stuck to our plans together and that’s all that matters,” said Mathews. “We are all the time helping each other. The seniors are playing a massive role in helping out the youngsters and they are also throwing a lot of ideas onto the table. It’s been a collective effort from the seniors and the younger players.”

The upcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka is no different. For already Mitchell Starc, who will spearhead the Australian bowling line-up in the three-Test series beginning at Pallekele on Tuesday has spoken of targeting Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain.

In a team that is under transition and short of experience Mathews is the stand-out batsman for Sri Lanka in the Test series with 4140 runs at an average of 48.70 and seven centuries. He is the best by way of figures or otherwise for the nearest batsman to him in the team is his deputy Dinesh Chandimal with 2007 (avg. 44.50) and six Test hundreds.

So it’s no surprise that getting Mathews’ wicket would be a crucial factor in Australia’s campaign to win the Test series. Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding when asked whom the all-conquering West Indies side led by Clive Lloyd would target during a series he came out with the answer that it was the opposing captain.

Holding explained that if the captain’s wicket is taken cheaply he will be worried more about his batting form and place in the team rather than worry about the opposition for which he will have less time.

Australian teams seem to have adhered to this belief that a sure way to unsettle a rival is to heap pressure on their captain. So Starc targeting Mathews is nothing new.

“It would be (a big wicket) and look, he’s under pressure,” Starc told Cricket Australia. “He’d be under pressure after the English tour and as a captain he’ll have to go through that pressure and perform as well. And that’s something that Steve (Smith, Australia’s Test captain) for us does really well.

“He’s been fantastic as a captain and performed from the front as well, so no doubt we’ll put a lot of pressure on Angelo to firstly perform and for him he’s got to lead as captain.

“He’ll be a big wicket for us along with (vice-captain Dinesh) Chandimal, and, for their bowlers, (veteran left-arm spinner Rangana) Herath is the most experienced and one that we’ll try and counter.”

In the bowling line-up Sri Lanka will bank heavily on Herath’s experience of playing in 70 Tests and capturing over 300 wickets in the absence of regular bowlers Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera who are both injured.

In the batting Australia is top heavy with vice-captain David Warner and captain Steve Smith scoring a total of 30 Test hundreds between them and the rest Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja accounting for a dozen centuries.

What Sri Lanka can come up with is a total of 18 Test centuries from their four top batsmen Mathews, Chandimal and openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva. Although Australia doesn’t have a bowler of Herath’s class in their line-up but nevertheless have some outstanding match winners in off-spinner Nathan Lyon who is the leading wicket-taker in the side with 195 wickets and new ball bowlers Mitchell Starc with 91 and Jos Hazelwood with 70.

A lot depends on how the Lankan openers tackle the Australian new ball attack of Starc, Hazlewood and Jackson Bird and see them off so that the middle order can play their natural game. In England, the Sri Lankan top order was swept away by Anderson, Broad and Finn in the first three innings of the series before they managed to resurrect themselves and come up with challenging totals.

Karunaratne and Silva put on a century opening stand in the third and final Test at Lord’s and Sri Lanka will be hoping they will be able to extend that run to the Australian series as well.

Australia is down play three Test matches in Pallekelle, Galle and the SSC and five ODI’s and two T20 matches.

The Lankans who had completed a miserable tour of England will have a .gigantic task in competing with the world number one team with a depleted bowling attack and an inexperienced batting line up. In addition to the injured fast bowlers the much talked about right-arm leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay who injured his spinning finger during a practice match prior to the English tour is still recovering from his injury and has been indefinitely ruled out from the Aussie tour as well.

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews said at a press briefing at the SLC headquarters that whatever the destination the Aussies play they are an extremely strong side to combat even with the home advantage. The home team will be minus Dhammika Prasad, Dushmantha Chameera, Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal.

Mathews said the last time the Aussies were here in 2011 the contest was a close one and this time too he hopes it would be as close and wished the weather would keep fine.

Australian skipper Steve Smith said that Sri Lanka is a great place to play cricket, and admitted that Australia hadn’t much success playing in the sub continent and hopefully will try to turn things around.

Coach Graham Ford said that it was a good tour to have right now as the boys have done some tough work and they have realised the kind of work they are required to do to be successful at this level as Australia has been a very successful team for a quite a long time.

“We can test ourselves with a really good Test playing nation. It is interesting to see whether the progress made in the recent tour of England would continue. We showed signs of progress in England and the Australian tour would prove whether we are really on the right track. My immediate concern is taking 20 wickets in a match with so many injuries in the bowling unit. That was the problem in England as well,” said Ford.

The Lankan coach also said that the team will have to look at different directions where the bowling is concerned. Talking about the batting Ford said that they are beginning to play as a unit.

The two openers have not shown much in their technique. Youngster Kusal Mendis batting at number three looked exciting and a good prospect for the future.

“But we must not put too much pressure on him, but keep encouraging him. I am sure when he starts scoring hundreds he will become a match winner. Chandimal began to play much better and with experienced Angelo the batting should come good,” said Ford.

Mathews was given the role ahead of the World Twenty20 this year when Lasith Malinga resigned from the role.

Mathews was notably disgruntled about it at the time, saying he was not prepared, and has never warmed to the task.

Mathews, on tour in the UK, said: “If I think there is a suitable captain and a better captain than me, I’ll talk to the selectors and step down.

“If somebody comes through the ranks and is doing really well and is up for the challenge, well, I’ll obviously give it to him.”

Mathews remained under an injury cloud and must undergo a fitness test before he can be cleared to play in the second ODI.

The Sri Lanka captain hobbled from the field suffering stiffness in his left hamstring after bowling six overs during Sri Lanka’s tie with England in the first ODI of the five-game Royal London series at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

The hamstring failed to improve overnight and Mathews saw a doctor in Birmingham on Wednesday to undergo further assessment.

His absence would be keenly felt by Sri Lanka on several levels; in the first ODI Mathews’ steadying innings of 73 was the highest of any batsman in his side and he then took 2 for 22 with the new ball before injury forced him from the field.

Sri Lanka may also have benefited from Mathews’ experience as captain as England chased down 286 to draw level with Sri Lanka – particularly in the final two overs when Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett plundered 30 runs, culminating in Plunkett’s six off Nuwan Pradeep’s final ball.

Sri Lanka’s pace attack has been gradually depleted since the start of the tour, with the loss of Dushmantha Chameera, Dhammika Prasad and Shaminda Eranga and, in the remainder of the squad, there is no like-for-like replacement for the all-rounder Mathews.

Sri Lanka’s team management said they were already preparing to draft a replacement for Eranga from the Sri Lanka A squad, which arrives in England ahead of a series of matches against Pakistan A and England Lions.

If Matthews fails to recover in time for Friday’s game, Sri Lanka may need to call in further reinforcements.

England are 2-0 up with one Test to play, but the match starting on Thursday has more riding on it than it might appear for the hosts after recent series victories ended on a low note.

Last year, having won the Ashes, England suffered an innings and 46-run defeat by Australia in the fifth Test at The Oval.

There was a similarly heavy reverse in South Africa in January when, 2-0 up with one to play, England lost the fourth Test at Centurion by 280 runs.

Although they won the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chester-le-Street by nine wickets, there were warning signs for England during that success.

Sri Lanka, having become the first team since New Zealand in 1958 to be dismissed for under 120 in three successive Test innings, made 475 in the second knock in Durham — including a fine hundred by Dinesh Chandimal.

A typically good Lord’s pitch could make life harder still for fast bowlers in London, with the most even contest of the series so far in prospect.

– ‘Growing in confidence’ -”I expect them to continue improving,” England batting coach Mark Ramprakash said Tuesday of Sri Lanka.

“I thought they made a really good fist of it in that second innings — Chandimal was exceptional.

“They’re growing in confidence… The pitch will be better here, the conditions may be more to their liking.”

England’s two biggest doubts concern a pair of players who know Lord’s well as it is their Middlesex home ground.

Top-order batsman Nick Compton has been struggling for runs, and fast bowler Steven Finn for wickets.

With England having again selected a 12-man squad, it looks as if Compton will get another match at number three.

Finn’s place is under threat from uncapped seamer Jake Ball, although England appear ready to retain the Middlesex quick.

With England captain Alastair Cook now having completed the burdensome business of getting to 10,000 Test runs, the left-handed opener could be in the mood to make a major score at Lord’s.

Meanwhile England new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad, first and third in the world Test bowler rankings respectively, will look to maintain their standing.

Two years ago, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews scored a fine Test century in a thrilling draw at Lord’s where the match went down to the last ball.

For this fixture, Sri Lanka may make changes to their side.

Stylish wicket-keeper/batsman Kusal Perera — a late addition to the squad after his drugs ban was overturned by the International Cricket Council because of a faulty lab analysis in Doha — could end more than six months out by replacing injured all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana (twisted ankle).

Fast bowler Shaminda Eranga was reported for a suspect action during the second Test and is understood to have undergone tests at the England and Wales Cricket Board’s training centre at Loughborough University this week.

Although Eranga is still available to play, Sri Lanka could give a debut to uncapped 29-year-old left-armer Chaminda Bandara in the absence of the injured Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera.

Sri Lanka, who had just two warm-up matches against two under-strength English Second Division counties in Essex and Leicestershire before the Test series started, may well head to Lord’s fuelled by a sense of unfairness.

Sri Lanka batsman Dimuth Karunaratne, who made a hundred against Leicestershire, was unimpressed.

“Some of the Division Two bowlers didn’t ask many questions,” he said.

“When we play that kind of opposition and all of a sudden play James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the Test match, the gap is huge. We tend to make more mistakes and get out cheaply.

“When England come to Sri Lanka, they play our A team as warm-up,” he added pointedly, in words the ICC and national boards ought to consider if they are serious about wanting more competitive Tests.

Of the six wickets Sri Lanka took during the day four were due to outstanding catches.

Skipper Angelo Mathews’ blinder of a catch at slip to send back Alex Hales for 83 was the top of the lot. The England opener offered a full blooded cut off left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana and as the ball flew off the edge Mathews dived to his right and held the ball one-handed.

Sri Lanka’s brilliant catching compensated for the Lankan bowling which was too friendly on the slow pitch where the odd ball kept low.

Dimuth Karunaratne picked up a fine catch at slip to send back Alastair Cook for 15, denying the England captain his milestone of becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs. Cook started the day requiring 20 to reach the landmark but fell short by five when he was dismissed for 15.

Unless Sri Lanka put up a good first innings total, and make England to bat again in the second innings Cook may well have to wait until the start of the third and final Test at Lord’s on June 9 to get to the milestone. At Leeds, England batted only once and won the Test by an innings to go one-up in the three match series. Suranga Lakmal who replaced the injured Dushmantha Chameera pulled off a stunning catch at deep square leg when Nick Compton offered a full blooded pull with his score on nine.

The fourth catch of the day was held by Lahiru Thirimanne at short cover when James Vince drove at Siriwardana and the fielder diving to his right pulled off a ripper.

Sri Lankan bowling in these conditions looked harmless but their persistency paid rich dividends as they managed to prize out six England wickets.

Joe Root was the other England batsman to miss out on a hundred when he popped up a simple catch to Kaushal Silva at cover with his score on 80.

Hales and Root added 96 and Root also shared another half century stand with Vince. But each time England looked like running away with the game Sri Lanka managed to pull back and pluck a wicket.

Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the Lankan bowlers finishing with three wickets for 69 including that of Jonny Bairstow the man of the match at Leeds with a career best 140. Bairstow fell to the second new ball attempting to slash at Pradeep and giving Dinesh Chandimal a straight forward catch after scoring 48 off 57 balls.

With Moeen Ali who was unbeaten on 28 at the close, Bairstow added 70 for the sixth wicket. Chris Woakes who replaced the injured Ben Stokes was not out eight.

Like Cook, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was also left seeking his 300th Test wicket. Herath created some problems for the batsmen with his guile and flight but England managed to overcame it and deprive him of the milestone. Herath is shy of one wicket from becoming the third Sri Lankan bowler to get to the mark.

Siriwardana considered to be the man with the golden arm justified his selection ahead of Dasun Shanaka with two wickets – both to excellent catches by Mathews and Thirimanne.

In the gloomy morning it looked as if Sri Lanka had got it all wrong when they left out Shanaka for the left-arm spin of Siriwardana, but later as the day progressed and the wicket started to get slow and keep low it seemed a good choice.

It seems the Lankans whose fielding had dropped drastically in recent times have worked hard in this area and the results are showing on the field.

The overcast skies gave away to bright sunshine during the final session of play. The forecast for the next two days is for good weather.

Mathews knows this Test is crucial for Sri Lanka to stay alive in the three-match series and he said he expected a better performance from his team than the one they put up at Leeds five days ago.

On that occasion Sri Lanka were bundled out for scores of 91 and 119 to lose inside three days by an innings and 88 runs. The win has given a 1-0 lead in the series and they will be looking to wrap it up at Durham where the conditions will once again be favourable to their swing and seam attack led by James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

“We had only a few days to turnaround and think about the game and our strategies,” said Mathews at the pre-Test press conference yesterday. “The defeat at Leeds was quite embarrassing we just have to flush it out of the system. The more we think about it the more disappointed we get. Tomorrow’s going to be a fresh start. To stay alive in the series we’ll have to win regardless of the conditions and the weather. We have to go out there and play at our best. “We need to forget Headingley simple as that. That’s the first thing we got to do. You can’t erase it but you can move on and work really hard, have a positive mind set and walk into the game. It’s a mental adjustment we got to do and hopefully the boys will come out right.

“If we play to our potential it is possible to win the Test, not think about the weather too much. We certainly have the skill and the talent it’s just that we need to go and fight it out for the rest of the five days,” he said.

On the daunting prospect of having to come up against two of the best bowlers in English conditions Anderson and Broad, Mathews said, “In these conditions they are really good bowlers wherever they played they have been really good for the past so many years. They are world class bowlers and you’ve got to be skillful especially in these conditions.

“We have more clarity on our top order batting and we also found the right balance it’s just that when you play more games you tend to learn more. Batting is an art in Test cricket, it is a test of skill, temperament and you have to get used to different conditions. Weather can’t be an excuse because we are all international players. It’s just that we played enough cricket to understand what roles we have to play in the team in the batting line-up. Hopefully they will come up with the challenge.

One of the positives to come out of the tour is the batting of 21-year-old Kusal Mendis and Mathews said the other team members could emulate him.

“This is the first tour for him on the big stage – first Test match in England, he showed a lot of character when the ball is swinging and seaming around,” said Mathews. “That itself showed a lot of character about the player. The rest of the batters can also take a lot of positives out of it and take up the challenge.”

Sri Lanka have not finalized their team for the Test and Mathews said that it will be done later during the day after he sees the pitch and meets up with chairman of Sanath Jayasuriya who was expected to arrive here yesterday.

The likelihood is that Suranga Lakmal is the likely prospect of replacing the injured Dushmantha Chameera who has returned home with a back injury.

England are making one change to their squad with Chris Woakes coming in for injured Ben Stokes.

“We have not seen the best of Chris in England. He is in fine form for Warwickshire taking nine wickets,” said England captain Alastair Cook.

“We need that competition in that all-rounder place. Ben is a big loss for us but injuries are part and parcel of cricket and we need to learn how to play without him.”

Cook also said that England’s top order needs to fire after being reduced to 83-5 at Leeds before they recovered to total 298.

“To get to nearly 300 runs you had to bat well in those extraordinary conditions. Tough innings Alex (Hales) had to really ground out and we were 80-5. The game was in the balance. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of our batting it’s an area we can unlock a bit more. We’re aware about it. As a side we’ve spoken about it. Hopefully the next five days we can pay off,” said Cook.

Both teams were confined to practice indoors due to the bad weather which hopefully is expected to improve over the next three days.

The squad will travel to Kandy today to continue training at a higher altitude ahead of the tour and will engage in training sessions. It will be followed by a two-day game at the Pallakelle International Cricket Stadium on Saturday and Sunday (April 23 and 24) whilst training sessions will be conducted concurrently at the nets.

Despite the rains in Colombo and suburbs, the weather in Kandy has remained favourable in the past weeks, and if long range weather reports are anything to go by, will remain so for the next few days giving the squad an ample opportunity to train.

Meanwhile, selection of the Test squad travelling to England is due to be finalized by April 27.

Sri Lanka will play a series of three Tests against England before moving on to the one-day format where they will take on England in five One-Day Internationals and in two Twenty20 Internationals.

The Test series starts at Headingley, Leeds on May 19 followed by the second Test at Durham from May 27 and the third and final Test at Lord’s from June 9.

The Test squad is due to arrive in England on May 4.

Angelo Mathews has been named captain and Dinesh Chandimal his deputy for all three formats of the game.

The preliminary squad selected consists of the following players:

Angelo Mathews (captain), Dasun Chanaka, Dinesh Chandimal (vice-captain), Dhammika Prasad, Dhananjaya de Silva,. Dilruwan Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Niroshan Dickwella, Nuwan Pradeep, Rangana Herath, Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal, Tharanga Paranavitana, Vishwa Fernando.

Dual role for Chandrishan Perera

Sri Lanka Cricket has approached its former media manager Chandrishan Perera to take on the role of communications manager on tour for next month’s cricket tour of England.

SLC is in the process of putting into place the support staff for the team which is currently in transition and according to sources a communications manager has been considered a necessity especially when the team is on tour.

Recently SLC recalled former team manager Charith Senanayake as manager for the tour to England and for the home series against Australia.

There is also a possibility that Perera who is renowned for his high skill training may also be asked to assist with the team’s training during the tour.

Perera a top class ruggerite turned out for CH&FC and Sri Lanka and also played cricket for CCC. He is also a qualified fitness trainer and respected rugby commentator and columnist.

The full list of players short-listed for the auctions has been released. It includes 130 capped players, 219 uncapped players and two from Associate Nations.

Out of these, 230 are Indians and 121 foreigners. The list was trimmed down from the original list of 714 cricketers who had given their names for the IPL auctions.

29 Australian capped cricketers have been short-listed for the auction. They are followed by players from India (26), West Indies (20), South Africa (18), Sri Lanka (16), New Zealand, (9), England (7) and Bangladesh (5).

Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Ashish Nehra, Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny and Dhawal Kulkarni are among the cricketers who have been listed with a base price of Rs 2 Crore (the highest base price bracket).

Yuvraj, who was left out of Delhi Daredevils, had fetched the highest price in the last two IPL auctions. Having returned to the national fold ahead of the ICC World T20, he is likely to attract a high bid in the upcoming auction.

Delhi Daredevils, who have released some of their biggest buys from the previous season – Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Mathews have the heaviest purse going into the auction – Rs 37.15 crore. They are followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have Rs 30.15 crore going into the auction. The two new franchises – Rising Pune Super Giants and Rajkot are joint-third on the list with Rs 27 crore each in their kitty.

Kings XI Punjab (Rs 23 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 21.625 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 17.95 crore) follow them on the list. Defending champions Mumbai Indians, seem settled with the unit that played last year. They released 10 players from the contract list and have Rs 14.405 crore going into the auction.

T20 captain Lasith Malinga is the only Sri Lankan retained by a franchise (Mumbai Indians) in the IPL.

Sri Lanka players –

Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Sachitra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Isuru Udana, Dilshan Munaweera, Seekkuge Prasanna

Guptill went within a whisker of breaking the world record for the fastest ODI 50 and was close to scoring one of the fastest centuries when New Zealand wrapped up the game.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said Guptill was “superb” while Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews described his side’s performance as “embarrassing” and “pathetic”.

After being dropped off the first ball he faced, Guptill went on the warpath with a brutal assault that included nine fours and eight sixes.

For Sri Lanka, it was a humiliating performance after they expressed a desire to gain some pride from being thrashed in the first ODI by seven wickets when New Zealand knocked off the 189-run target with 29 overs to spare.

Instead of getting better they went backwards, being dismissed for 117 in 27.4 overs.

“It was embarrassing. Once again a pathetic display by the whole batting unit,” Mathews said.

“We just couldn’t handle it. It didn’t swing or seam or bounce. It was just bad shot selection.”

Guptill set about demolishing the Sri Lanka attack.

He took 14 off one over by Nuwan Kulasekera and 26 off the next over from Dushmantha Chameera as he raced to 46 from 12 deliveries.

His momentum was briefly arrested by some well-placed Kulasekera yorkers and it took another five balls for Guptill to reach his 50, one behind the world record of 16 held by South African AB de Villiers.

“I got a couple of yorkers and couldn’t quite get it. But I’ll take the not out and a win than the fastest 50 and getting out,” he said.

Guptill did, however, break the New Zealand record for the fastest 50, going one better than McCullum’s best.

‘Good for batting’

McCullum did not open the New Zealand innings after injuring himself when he crashed into the fence while trying to cut off a boundary.

Instead Tom Latham took up the opening duties and hit the winning run to be unbeaten on 17 from 20 balls while Guptill had faced 30 for his 93 not out.

De Villiers also holds the record for the fastest ODI century, achieving the target in 31 balls in the same innings that he set the fastest 50 record against the West Indies in Johannesburg in January.

Monday’s entire game took exactly 36 overs for New Zealand to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.

When he won the toss and elected to bat, Sri Lanka’s Mathews described the pitch as “good for batting”.

But his batsmen were unable to handle Matt Henry, New Zealand’s chief destroyer in the first match who again took four wickets.

He struck first in the fourth over when Tillakaratne Dilshan was caught at first slip by Ross Taylor for seven, and the wickets tumbled regularly from there.

Sri Lanka still looked capable of posting a respectable score when they reached 81-5 in the 18th over but they then lost three wickets for no runs to be 81-8.

Kulasekara, who struggled at the start of his innings when he was dropped twice and won an appeal against an lbw decision, went on to top-score for Sri Lanka with 19.

For New Zealand, Henry took four for 33 and Mitchell McClenaghan three for 32. AFP