Date-stamped : 03 Nov93 - 05:17 Sri Lanka run out one-day favourites against New Zealand, 3Dec93 Sri Lanka are favourites to clinch the three-match limited overs contest against New Zealand beginning Friday after their fine 2-1 win in the one-day series over Australia in September. Sri Lanka have recalled hard-hitting batsman Romesh Kalu- vitharne and off-spinner Ruwan Kalpage for the first day-night encounter at the Khettarama Stadium. Kaluvitharne and Kalpage, both of whom played against Aus- tralia, have been named in a 12-man squad announced by the Sri Lankan cricket Board. The 12th man at the match is likely to be one of the two or fast bowler Dulip Liyanage. Besides the fact that they will be playing before enthusias- tic home crowds, that throng in their thousands for one-day games, Sri Lanka holds the advantage on their current form against a depleted but unpredictable New Zealand side. After their run-crawl in the just drawn first Test, New Zea- land skipper Martin Crowe gave no hint of how his team planned to take on Sri Lanka in Friday's game saying that it was "a secret." Crowe said that he was satisfied with the result in the first Test which gave New Zealand "an opportunity to find a balance and also know the strengths and weaknesses of the Sri Lankan team." New Zealand however can draw some inspiration from the fact that of the 23 one-day internationals between the two sides, the Kiwis have won 19 including their victory in the last World Cup. The cricket Board here also announced that the selectors had re- tained the 15-man first Test squad for the second Test starting Sunday. Sri Lanka (from): Arjuna Ranatunga (capt.), Roshan Mahana- ma, Chandika Hathurusinghe, Asanka Gurusinha, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Gamini Wickramasinghe, Romesh Kaluvitharne, Champaka Ramanayake, Ruwan Kalpage, Don Anurasiri, Dulip Li- yanage. Reserves: Sanath Jayasuriya, Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Muttiah Mu- ralitharan New Zealand (from): Martin Crowe (capt.), Blair Hartland, John Wright, Andrew Jones, Ken Rutherford, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Dion Nash, Chris Pringle, Mark Haslam, Michael Owens, Murphy Su'a, Justin Vaughan, Grant Bradburn. ====> MORE Rain halts play in Colombo, 4 Dec 93 Rain halted play in the day-night international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka here Friday after the home side, chasing a victory target of 167, had reached 41 for two in the 11th over. A heavy downpour at the floodlit Khettarama Stadium here forced the players off the field just when the match had reached an exciting moment with Sri Lanka losing two wickets in the space of three balls to seamer Chris Pringle. ====> MORE New Zealand- Sri Lanka match abandoned as no-decision, 4 Dec 93 The first one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka was abandoned here on Friday following a heavy downpour that made the ground unfit for play. Umpires declared a "no-decision" after deciding to call off the day-night match following a final inspection 50 minutes be- fore the scheduled close. Sri Lanka, chasing a victory target of 167 in 50 overs, were 41 for two in the 11th over when rain halted play. Earlier, New Zealand made 166 for nine in their allotted 50 overs. The second one-day international between the two sides is scheduled to be played here on December 12. New Zealand clash with Sri Lanka in the second Test beginning Sunday. ====> MORE The first one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lan- ka was abandoned in Colombo yesterday following a heavy downpour that made the ground unfit for play. Hampered as much by a very slow outfield as their own patchy form the New Zealanders strug- gled to reach 166 for nine wickets from their 50 overs. After losing two wickets at 20, Sri Lanka soared away on the magic carpet of Aravinda de Silva and in no time at all had reached 41 for two. But then the rain started and, under the wet weather rules, they were set what appeared to be an easy target of 67 runs in 20 overs. However, Martin Crowe, the New Zealand cap- tain, refused to resume, complaining that the outfield was not playable, and the match was abandoned. ODI1 (Colombo): New Zealand 166-9 (50 overs) Sri Lanka 41-2 (10.2 overs) Match abandoned. (Compiled from various sources, thanks to Vasa) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)