Dates, form, head-to-head, squads and more ahead of the three-match 50-over series between the Blackcaps and Sri Lanka - with a place at the World Cup still up for grabs for the visitors
New Zealand are hosting Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series.
The series will take place in Auckland, Christchurch, and Hamilton.
1st ODI: Saturday, March 25- Eden Park, Auckland (2pm Local time, 1am GMT)
2nd ODI: Tuesday, March 28- Hagley Oval, Christchurch (2pm local time, 1am GMT)
3rd ODI: Friday, March 31- Seddon Park, Hamilton (2pm local time, 1am GMT)
New Zealand come into this series in good form after beating Sri Lanka in a two-Test series.
The three-match ODI series counts towards the 2023 Cricket World Cup Super League. Sri Lanka will be hoping to push towards automatic qualification for the World Cup with a strong peformance here. They are involved in a scrap with South Africa and West Indies to avoid the qualifier.
Sri Lanka are looking to bounce back after suffering defeat to India in January; they were swept 3-0. They have only lost once since 2021 in the 50-over format and are ranked at No.8 in the ICC standings.
New Zealand have not faced Sri Lanka since 2019 and they come into this campaign ranked third. The Kiwis suffered a series defeat by India in January, but have only lost two series out of eight in the 50-over format of the game.
The two countries will contest their 100th head-to-head ODI in this series.
With the IPL around the corner there are some major changes in the New Zealand squad.
Tom Latham will captain the side for the matches while Tom Blundell and Will Young make returns.
New Zealand may give debuts to batsman Chad Bowes and left-arm fast bowler Ben Lister. Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner miss the series on IPL duty.
After the first ODI, Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Phillips will join up with their IPL franchises. The potential new debutants will join up with the squad then, along with Henry Nicholls.
Sri Lanka are still without bowler Dushmantha Chameera who is recovering from injury. Angelo Mathews returns to the ODI picture; his last game at ODI level was in March 2021.
Uncapped Sahan Arachchige has been brought up to the ODI squad and could make his debut in the series.
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Finn Allen (ODI 1), Tom Blundell, Chad Bowes, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman (ODI 2 & 3), Lockie Ferguson (ODI 1), Matt Henry, Ben Lister (ODI 2 & 3), Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls (ODI 2 & 3), Glenn Phillips (ODI 1), Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Will Young
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), Pathum Nissanka, Nuwanidu Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya De Silva, Sahan Arachchige, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Pramod Madushan, Dilshan Madushanka, Chamika Karunaratne, Matheesha Pathirana
BT Sport 2 will show the games in the UK.
In New Zealand the series will be streamed on Spark Sport, while also being able to listen to it on Today FM New Zealand.
In Sri Lanka, the coverage is on Supreme TV.
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