JOHANNESBURG, Sept 26 New Zealand enter the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy last-chance saloon on Sunday when they face unpredictable Sri Lanka at the Wanderers.
Nothing less than victory will keep the 'Black Caps' in the hunt to win the second most important one-day national team tournament after the World Cup and collect a record two-million-dollar first prize.
England, Sri Lanka and South Africa have two points each in Group 'B' and New Zealand are pointless having been outplayed by South Africa as convincingly as the five-wicket margin suggests.
Winners of the second edition nine years ago in Kenya, New Zealand entered this tournament with a large question mark hanging over the ability of the batsmen to build match-winning partnerships.
And the worst fears of skipper Daniel Vettori were realised with only the fourth-wicket stand of Ross Taylor and South Africa-born Grant Elliott matching expectations.
The Kiwi batsmen never got to grips with the pace of Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn, and the spin of Roelof van der Merwe also tied them in knots they could not untangle.
It is unlikely to get any easier against Sri Lanka, who lost by six wickets against England Friday after surprising South Africa by 55 runs in a rain-shortened tournament opener three days before.
Master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is due a good performance having failed to capture a South Africa wicket and taken just one against England while conceding 106 runs in the two matches.
Fellow spinner Ajantha Mendis will also want to enhance a reputation gained with a 3-30 haul against South Africa only to be tarnished after a 0-35 return against England.
Fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara may be number one on the ICC world rankings, but also needs to raise his game with two Champions Trophy wickets costing 86 runs.
Sri Lankan batsmen like opener Tillekeratne Dilshan found the switch from SuperSport Park in Centurion to the Wanderers difficult with his 106 against South Africa giving way to just two runs against England.
The grand old man of the team, 40-year-old fellow opener Sanath Jayasuriya, has even more to prove with a meagre 10 from his first outing followed by a duck in the second outing. Meanwhile, all-rounder James Franklin will replace the injured Jacob Oram in New Zealand squad, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement.
Oram damaged his hamstring in training and missed New Zealand's opening match against hosts South Africa on Thursday.
Franklin, 28, has played in 26 Tests and 65 ODIs, taking 80 and 64 wickets respectively.His last ODI was against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup in West Indies, taking two for 46 in New Zealand's 81-run semi-final defeat.
South Africa face England later on Sunday at Centurion just off the highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria and if Sri Lanka and England emerge victorious they would qualify for the semi-finals nest weekend.—Agencies