While the Black Caps’ first job at the T20 World Cup is complete, New Zealand will find themselves on the back foot when the Super Eights begin.
Following last night’s eight-wicket win over Canada in Chennai, New Zealand will vie with co-hosts Sri Lanka, England, and one more qualifier - likely Pakistan, provided they beat Namibia tonight - with the top two to advance to the semifinals.
However, that does leave the Black Caps at a huge disadvantage, and having to play their next three matches in Sri Lankan conditions.
While playing in Sri Lanka in and of itself isn’t new considering New Zealand’s past tours, the Black Caps will face three Super Eight opponents who’ve already played there this year.
As co-hosts, Sri Lanka have played all their group stage matches at home, while political tensions with India have also seen Pakistan do the same.
And while England’s four group games have been split across Kolkata and Mumbai, Brendon McCullum’s men’s last pre-tournament hit-out was two series wins away to Sri Lanka, 2-1 in the ODI series, and 3-0 in the T20s.
On the other hand, all four of New Zealand’s group games, as well as warm-up ODI and T20 series, have been in India.
While on the surface, Indian and Sri Lankan conditions are similar enough, the reality is very different. Sri Lankan conditions see the ball tend to spin even more, while larger grounds mean scoring opportunities are very different from the Indian climes the Black Caps have become familiar with.
But while re-acclimatising will be tricky, the Black Caps’ group stage matches hold the team in good stead.
“We’ve had to be adaptable,” said Glenn Phillips.
“Credit to the teams we’ve played - they’ve batted very well on all occasions, which is great. It’s put us under a bit of pressure. But that’s really good for us going forward into the Super Eight phase.
“Sri Lanka is going to be different again, that part of the tournament starts coming down to who can keep their calm the most, and who can not necessarily play the long game, per se, it’s T20 cricket.
“But [it’s about] who can hold their nerve the longest, especially if pitches start deteriorating.”
The Black Caps’ most recent experience in Sri Lanka came on two ill-fated tours at the back end of 2024.
Across three formats, New Zealand claimed just one victory, as a 2-0 test series loss also marked the end of Tim Southee’s captaincy, before a weakened white-ball side lost the ODI series 2-0, and drew the T20s 1-1.
Those series saw Sri Lanka prepare spin-heavy surfaces, to exploit their strengths in home conditions. However, being a tournament, pitches should tend to be more neutral.
Phillips, though, is banking on the lessons of the Black Caps’ previous visits.
“We did have a good experience over here a year or so ago against Sri Lanka, when they were playing really well at home,” he added.
“They were producing pitches that were turning sideways. Being able to have that experience - I don’t think they’ll turn to that extent - we understand what our options are, how we attack the game, whether 160 is a good score.
“You’ve got places like Pallekele and Colombo where, if the pitch is good, 200 is easily gettable. The grounds are a lot bigger as well. It’s [about] understanding that [running] twos and threes are going to be more crucial than fours and sixes.”
All three of the Black Caps Super Eight matches will be played in Colombo, on February 22, 26 and 28.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.