Malinga back to haunt NZ

A fit Lasith Malinga will be a blessing for Sri Lanka during their World Cup opener against New Zealand at Christchurch today. The Lions will hope that the pacer can fire in those inswinging yorkers and give them the first bite of the cherry. Photo: Star File

The mop of tinted hair, the green sunglasses and the casual swagger were hard to miss.

So was the shuffling run-up and whippy, round-arm release as Lasith Malinga had an extended bowling session on Hagley Oval with Sri Lanka bowling coach Chaminda Vaas yesterday.

Almost a decade since he first bamboozled New Zealand's batsmen with a nine-wicket haul in the 2005 test in Napier, Malinga looms as the potential gamebreaker in today's Cricket World Cup opener.

The 31-year-old Twenty20 gun-for-hire, from Galle, hasn't played a one-day international since August 30. He underwent ankle surgery last year and sat out the seven-match series against New Zealand in January under a managed program to have him cherry ripe for today.

"Lasith will definitely play and he is fit to go," Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said.

There must be doubts about his match-fitness and general sharpness after such a long time out.

But on reputation, ability and his previous record against New Zealand, the home batsmen will need to be vigilant. Commentator Shane Warne last week labelled Malinga the best death bowler in world cricket, consistently producing fast yorkers with late swing from a low trajectory.

The last time New Zealand faced Malinga in a tournament match, at the Champions Trophy in Cardiff in 2013, he snared 4-34 and nearly spurred Sri Lanka to a shock victory as the Black Caps staggered home by one wicket, chasing 139.

Home skipper Brendon McCullum said they'd done a lot of preparation on Malinga before the January series and made plans to combat him.

"He's a world-class bowler and makes a significant difference to their line-up, more at the back end of the game with his death bowling where he is phenomenal," McCullum said.

"He's a factor we will have to overcome if we are going to succeed in this game. But if we can head into those final overs with a nice platform then hopefully we can put him under some pressure as well."

In 21 ODIs against New Zealand, Malinga has 29 wickets at 23.89, compared with an overall average of 27.21.