Captain Ross Taylor blames an under-prepared wicket for a startling batting collapse in the drawn Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka on Wednesday morning (NZT).
The opening match of the tour was washed out at Pallekele after New Zealand were sent in and scraped together 74-7 off a reduced 14 overs.
Rain ended the one-off fixture when Sri Lanka had reached 6-0 in response after just two overs.
None of the top six New Zealand batsmen reached double figures as they slumped to a disastrous 28-6 in difficult conditions.
It took late cameos from allrounders Andrew Ellis (16 from 10 balls), Jacob Oram (10 from nine) and Tim Southee (21 from 10) to add a semblance of respectability.
Right-arm seamers Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera bagged two cheap wickets each, along with spinner Akila Dananjaya.
Heavy showers marred the game and the humid conditions allowed the ball to swing considerably on a pitch that had been under cover for most of the previous three days.
“For us to get out there and play a Twenty20 match on that wicket, it was probably a fair result at the end of the day,” Taylor said.
“It was tough out there. I think we were still in there with a sniff with 70 runs under the belt and I guess that shows what type of wicket it was.”
All of the New Zealand top order struggled, including Tom Latham who was promoted to open for the first time in place of the absent Martin Guptill.
Latham struck an early boundary before being bowled by Kulasekara while fellow opener Rob Nicol battled to a lone single in his 12-ball innings.
The heart of New Zealand’s batting strength – Brendon McCullum, Taylor, James Franklin and BJ Watling – then managed just 15 runs between them.
The first of five one-day internationals will be played at the same venue on Thursday and Taylor feared conditions would again play a big role.
“Hopefully some sunshine comes out because I can’t see that wicket changing a hell of a lot in the next couple of days.”