Preview: Sri Lanka, New Zealand kick off World Cup with intriguing clash

Image: Daniel Vettori's inspirational leadership will stand New Zealand in good stead

The Twenty20 season rolls on without a stop, as after the high profile IPL that concentrated on off-field drama, cricket, off-field drama, entertainment, off-field drama and innovative ad-placement, comes the equally high profile T20 World Cup, where hopefully the focus will shift back to the game being played.

The format is short, sharp and sweet, so that the potential for other distractions is lessened. The West Indian authorities also seem to have learned from the disaster of the 2007 ODI World Cup, which as one commentator memorably said is probably still going on somewhere in the Caribbean, and this tournament looks lean, with all the flab cut out.

The opening match is an intriguing one on paper, with two teams who are both known to be forces in the Twenty20 format, and a number of whose players have had intense T20 practice in the IPL.

Text: Cricbuzz
Images: AP​