When I told a friend I was watching New Zealand take on Sri Lanka in the inaugural T20 World Cup match, he looked away in disgust. New Zealand, claims my friend, are a chore to watch. He’d much rather watch his Mac put through a crusher, take a holiday in Witbank, or watch Bangladesh volunteer to a whipping. 'New Zealand playing T20 cricket translates to a dull team attempting an exciting game,' he insisted.

Astonished at his curt dismissal of the Kiwis and almost at a loss for words, I rushed to their defence. I argued that in this tournament, for the first time in who-knows-how-long, they are able to field a first choice team. 'Their injury bogeys have been put to bed, this is their time,' I intoned, sounding suspiciously like a happy-clappy, Kiwi cheerleader. And then, confused about why exactly I had become an advocate for Kiwi cricket, I pointed out instead that their opponents, Sri Lanka, are worthy of even the fussiest fan's attentions. 'Sri Lanka, I don’t mind.' he says, 'exciting team. But New Zealand, God no.'

New Zealand though proved to be too strong for Sri Lanka as some late pyrotechnics by Brandon Mc Cullum saw them reach their meager target with a couple of balls to spare.

Sri Lanka, despite their defeat, cannot be undermined. Their spin attack, consisting of the likes of Muralidaran, Mendis and Jayasuriya are a force to be reckoned with on the slow pitches we've seen so far on the opening weekend of the tournament. Even with news of Murali’s possible widhdrawal from the tournament through injury, Sri Lanka remain among the favorites in the tournament.

It’s an ominous sign as well that though Sri Lanka struggled to 146 in their twenty overs, with Jayawardene in splendid form, Jayasuriya hardly faced a ball. Dilshan though still looks scratchy and will need to hit his straps fast.

New Zealand will also, despite my friend's opinion of their brand of cricket, be a tough team to beat in the Super 8 phase. With Bond’s pace complemented with the spin of Vetorri and Mc Cullum and the likes of Jesse Ryder in characteristic wham bham form, the Black Caps look good.

And when they earned their last over victory over Sri Lanka on Friday, they were anything but boring.