For much of the tour, Sri Lanka seemed to find ways to lose, but with a flat pitch underfoot and the sun at their backs in Hamilton, shoes switched feet and tables were turned. A run-out epidemic swept through the New Zealand middle order, and batsmen were being carried out of their crease almost involuntarily, by their own legs. Sri Lanka were slick enough in the field to capitalise, which has not always been the case in the past three weeks.
New Zealand will seek to shake the match off like a bad dream. Brendon McCullum has already said his team would almost certainly not concede four run-outs again in the series, and that their running between the wickets remains in good order despite the collapse.
More worrying, perhaps, has been the top order's over-reliance on McCullum in the first two matches. Each of Sri Lanka's top six batsmen has crossed fifty at least once some time in the tour (in either the Tests or ODIs), but in Ross Taylor and Tom Latham New Zealand are carrying two batsmen who are yet to make a substantial contribution, though they have had several starts. With Williamson unavailable again in Auckland, Latham and Taylor are the hosts' Nos.3 and 4. As the opposition fields Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in those positions, this is perhaps where New Zealand are presently giving away most ground.
Sri Lanka have concerns of their own too, particularly with the ball, but in Hamilton found the means to scramble together an adequate bowling effort, via heavy reliance on their teeming spin stocks. The attack has been stripped of much of its menace by Lasith Malinga's absence, and though Nuwan Kulasekara has regained his rhythm, the other seam bowlers have not adequately supported him.
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