Sanga-Mahela pep talk for Lanka before NZ tie

Cardiff, May 31 

New Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said his struggling side has received timely advice from former greats including Kumar Sangakkara ahead of their World Cup opener against New Zealand on Saturday. Sri Lanka, who won the tournament in 1996 before making consecutive finals in 2007 and 2011, enter the 2019 edition on a difficult recent run of form.

NZ vs SL in World Cup

Matches: 10
Sri Lanka won: 6
New Zealand won: 4

Form guide

Sri Lanka: WLLLL
New Zealand: WWWLW
(L=lost W=won; Last five completed matches, most recent first)

646 Runs were scored in the most recent ODI at Cardiff — the second ODI between Australia and England on Jun 16, 2018

3 New Zealand have lost all of their last three games at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff

30.34 The average age of Sri Lanka squad — the highest among all the sides in the World Cup 

Pitch and conditions

Pitch was green on the eve of the match. Weather is expected to be fine for the match