New Zealand, who recently won the Test series, are now hosting a three-match One-Day International series against Sri Lanka. During the first ODI at Eden Park in Auckland on March 25, the young Kiwi batsman Finn Allen was given a second chance after the ball hit the stumps.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first in the series opener, while New Zealand fielded a young team since their main players are playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Sri Lanka managed to bowl out New Zealand for 274 runs in 49.3 overs, with Chamika Karunaratne taking four wickets for 43 runs in his nine overs.
During New Zealand’s innings, an incident occurred when opener Finn Allen was batting at nine runs off six balls. Sri Lankan fast bowler Kasun Rajitha beat Allen’s outside edge, and the ball hit the off-stumps but the bails remained intact. The entire ground, including the batter, was stunned, and Rajitha took some time to believe what had just happened.
In the first ODI match against Sri Lanka, Finn Allen grabbed the chance and achieved his fifth half-century in 50-over cricket. He played a knock of 51 runs off 49 balls before getting out in the 19th over while attacking Chamika Karunaratne. The Kiwis received a boost with valuable contributions from middle-order batsman Darryl Mitchell, wicketkeeper-batsman Glenn Phillips, and young all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, which helped them to set a decent total.
Moving forward, Finn Allen will be seen playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 16th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). RCB, led by Faf du Plessis, will kick off their campaign against Mumbai Indians on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, marking their first match on their home ground since May 2019.