The Latest: Henry strikes on 2nd ball for New Zealand

By Associated Press 02 June 2019, 12:00AM

LONDON (AP) — The Latest at the Cricket World Cup on Saturday (all times local):

10:35 a.m.

Matt Henry struck on the second ball of New Zealand's Cricket World Cup group opener against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka opener Lahiru Thirimanne was given out leg before wicket after the Black Caps asked for a TV review of the initial not out decision by the on-field umpire, leaving Sri Lanka on 4-1 on a grass-tinged wicket in mostly sunny conditions at Cardiff.

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10:10 a.m.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and sent Sri Lanka in to bat in Cricket World Cup group game against Sri Lanka in Cardiff.

New Zealand was runners-up in the 2015 World Cup and go into the encounter on a four-game winning streak against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has played four ODIs at Sophia Gardens but the three-time finalists are still hunting for their first win at the venue, with defeats to New Zealand (2013), India (2013), England (2016) and Pakistan (2017).

The 1996 champions are coming off back-to-back defeats in warmup games.

Lineups:

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga.

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9:30 a.m.

Five-time champion Australia starts the defense of its Cricket World Cup title against Afghanistan at Bristol on Saturday, with David Warner and ex-captain Steve Smith expected to return to the lineup.

New Zealand, beaten by Australia in the 2015 final, faces Sri Lanka at Cardiff in the earlier game.

Australia captain Aaron Finch confirmed Warner is fit for the day-nighter in southwestern England, and that likely means it's the same opening combination that helped carry Australia to victory at the last World Cup. But a lot has happened in between.

Finch was elevated to lead the Australia ODI squad after Smith and Warner were each banned for 12 months for their parts in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March last year.

After a considerable slump, the Australians have recovered in recent months to win eight consecutive ODIs, including a 3-2 comeback series win in India and a 5-0 sweep of Pakistan, then winning three warmup games in England. Afghanistan had a narrow win over Pakistan in a warmup game in Bristol but this was followed by a heavy defeat to top-ranked England.

Fourth-ranked New Zealand takes on 1996 champion Sri Lanka in the Welsh capital.

Sri Lanka has played four ODIs at Sophia Gardens but the three-time finalists are still hunting for their first win at the venue, with defeats to New Zealand (2013), India (2013), England (2016) and Pakistan (2017).

Sri Lanka was well beaten in both of its warmups against South Africa and Australia.

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in a home ODI series at the start of the year.

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More AP cricket: www.apnews.com/cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By Associated Press 02 June 2019, 12:00AM

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