Mendis, Tharanga fifties propel SL to 316

Another flowing century stand between Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka formed the basis of Sri Lanka's commanding 316 for 5 against Zimbabwe in Galle, with Upul Tharanga also contributing an intelligent 79 not out.

The young batsmen had also been impressive during the Champions Trophy - their long partnership against India led to Sri Lanka's only victory in the tournament - and their association in Galle followed a familiar template. There were moments of fortune for Gunathilaka, but otherwise, the two men were quick to punish poor balls, and manipulated the field with precision. Mendis top-scored again, with 86 off 80 deliveries.

Zimbabwe's spinners found some turn, but it was mostly of the slow variety, rather than the fast, ripping spin that is often seen at Galle. The lack of genuine menace in the middle overs saw Sri Lanka move almost unchecked through parts of their innings, and a score in excess of 300 looked likely from the early overs. Seamer Tendai Chatara returned the best figures, claiming a wicket at either end of the innings, while also going at only 5.44 per over. Sean Williams, Graeme Cremer and Solomon Mire all claimed a wicket a piece.

Mendis' innings was fluent from the outset. He slapped Chatara in front of point, and then wide of mid-on, for successive fours in the ninth over as he claimed a steady string of fuss-free runs into the outfield while the ball was still new and the pitch afforded the quicks a little movement.

Soon, though, the surface flattened out completely, and Mendis began to make batting seem effortless. A disdainful pull off Mire at the end of the 17th over took him past 1000 ODI runs, making him the joint second-fastest Sri Lankan to the milestone, after Roy Dias (Mendis did it in 28 innings; Dias in 27). Not long after that, he flitted down the pitch and smote the left-arm spin of Williams over midwicket, against the turn. With that shot, Mendis reached his 11th career fifty. Since his debut in June last year, no other player has made more 50-plus scores in ODI cricket - Joe Root tied with Mendis at the top of that table, with 12 such scores.

Gunathilaka had, meanwhile, reached his own half-century the previous over, but his progress had not been as assured as Mendis'. Early in his innings, he flirted with deliveries from Donald Tiripano that left the bat, and in the 16th over, edged a Mire delivery, only for the ball to fall short of the keeper. But in between the strokes of good fortune, which included a top-edged six off Mire, there was some typically elegant strokeplay.

In the sixth over, bowled by Tiripano, Gunathilaka had hit an imperious straight boundary and a commanding pull. Later on, he took Mendis' lead in systematically mining the outfield for singles. With Sri Lanka advancing so smoothly through the middle overs, there was perhaps no reason to venture the reverse sweep off Williams that got him out. Perhaps, that shot was the result of wanting to raise his strike rate, as he was on 60 off 76 balls at the time. Nevertheless, the partnership - worth 117 off 127 balls - had set Sri Lanka on track for a strong total.

In the company of Tharanga, who was immediately comfortable at the crease despite having moved down to No. 4 in the batting order, Mendis began to bat with even more freedom - though that ambition also perhaps bring about his downfall. Having come down the pitch to launch Cremer over the straight boundary, Mendis was beaten in the flight two balls later, and sent a catch off the leading edge that was sharply held by the bowler.

Tharanga continued unflustered, however. He bided his time while Angelo Mathews blasted a 30-ball 43 to enliven the back half of the middle overs, and after Mathews' dismissal, switched to a more aggressive frame of mind. Flitting around the crease in the final overs, he struck 30 runs off the last 18 balls he faced, completing his 33rd career fifty in the process. Between him, Mathews and Asela Gunaratne, who contributed a spry 28 from 26, Sri Lanka managed 78 in the last 10 overs.

Advantage England as New Zealand face must-win match

It would be over-stating things a little to say there was a sigh of relief in the England camp after launching their tournament with victory over Bangladesh. In the end they coasted the run chase, but the day was not without its concerns. Chris Woakes' side strain has turned out to be tournament-ending; there was a lack of wicket-taking threat for a large chunk of Bangladesh's innings and Jason Roy's mind looked a little frazzled when he tried to scoop his way back into form.

However, it all came together fairly serenely after that with Alex Hales, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan making light work of a target that, two years ago, would have left England cowering in a corner. And it felt as if they could have chased substantially more if needed. They might have to as the tournament progresses. Victory here will put them in the semi-finals, although the match may have to dodge the showers.

New Zealand's over-riding emotion after their first match will have been frustration. Kane Williamson is too sanguine to let it show, but few would have forgiven him if he wanted to kick something inside the Edgbaston dressing-room as the rain closed in with his side on top against Australia. Such positions do not come easily, even if Australia were below their best.

The way they set up their innings had more than a hint of 2015 about it, as Luke Ronchi blazed away with a slightly-less convincing remake of Brendon McCullum's gung-ho approach. Then Williamson was serene, but they could not kick on. Ross Taylor couldn't quite find an extra gear and the rest of the order floundered. Neil Broom's 14 off 19 balls was particularly problematic to the momentum and consideration may need to be given to some flexible thinking over the order.

When these two sides last met in one-day cricket in 2015, the runs flowed in record-breaking fashion: at the time it was the highest-scoring five-match series as England, showing that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, took on New Zealand's one-day mindset (and took it to greater heights) as the sides hurtled along in each other's slipstream. Given fine weather - and fingers are crossed on that front - this could be a humdinger.

Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWWW
New Zealand LWWWL

In the spotlight
In football a vote of confidence often means a struggling manager is out of a job a few days later. But if we are to take Morgan on his word, it won't matter whether Jason Roy scores runs or not, he won't lose his place at the top of the order. At the moment, England are managing to carry him without too much fuss, but while Root and Hales have a prolific record together, it can't always be banked on: 20 for 2 in tournament cricket is a different kettle of fish to a bilateral series. After the South Africa series, Trevor Bayliss sounded a little less unequivocal over Roy than Morgan. Another failure could test England's faith.

It has been a tough tournament for bowlers so far but, albeit in a small sample size, Adam Milne caught the eye before rain intervened against Australia. He struck in each of his two overs, removing Aaron Finch and Moises Henriques, with a splice-jarring length which zipped off the surface. Pace can be a double-edged sword - the faster it comes, the faster it goes - but harnessed well it can be match-winning.

Team news

Steven Finn could come straight into the side to replace Chris Woakes and there may be other tinkering with the attack, too. However, Adil Rashid could find himself unwanted again; in England's two ODIs on this ground last year they played just one frontline spinner due to the short, straight boundaries. David Willey could come into contention to replace the struggling Jake Ball - he would also offer some extra batting to compensate for Woakes' absence.

England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 David Willey/Jake Ball, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Mark Wood

New Zealand are expected to name an unchanged XI with faith shown in Broom at No. 5 and Jeetan Patel likely to be kept out of the side.

New Zealand 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Luke Ronchi (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 James Neesham 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

The pitch was covered throughout Monday as heavy rain fell but the forecast is a little better for match-day although showers, and strong winds, are forecast. Whoever wins the toss will surely bowl first. Cardiff has short straight boundaries, especially towards the River Taff, and long square ones which could tempt the quick bowlers to opt for a short-pitched approach.

Stats and trivia

In 50-over world tournaments (World Cup and Champions Trophy), New Zealand have won six of their last seven matches against England. However, their only defeat in that time came in the 2013 Champions Trophy, which was also in Cardiff, the venue for Tuesday's match.
Adil Rashid, who was left out against Bangladesh, is far and away England's most successful wicket-taker in the middle overs (11-40) among the current crop. Since the 2015 World Cup he has claimed 51 wickets at 35.35 and an economy of 5.61. His fellow spinner, Moeen Ali, has a far higher average of 57.43 in that same period but a significantly better economy of 5.08.
Since taking his career-best 7 for 33 against England in Wellington, Tim Southee's one-day returns have dipped. In his next 29 matches, he has taken 28 wickets. Since the World Cup, Southee's average of 48.45 is third-from-bottom among the 37 bowlers who have bowled 150+ overs since that tournament.
Quotes
"What looked like a reasonably good pitch yesterday, with an extra 24 hours under the hot, sweaty cover might change things in the morning. But we'll just have to wait and see how it turns up."
Eoin Morgan says that the wet conditions has left him pondering selection

"Their batting line-up is very long and if you get it wrong and don't get wickets, then you can chase a very high score. We know we'll have play well, as well as we did against Australia if not a little bit better."

Mike Hesson, New Zealand's coach, is braced for the challenge of taking on the tournament favourites.