Sri Lanka, Feb. 25 -- Sri Lanka will be desperate to correct their course when they take on New Zealand in a crucial Super Eight encounter of the T20 World Cup in Colombo on Wednesday.

After faltering in their opening Super Eight fixture, the hosts must secure a victory to keep their semi-final hopes alive. Sri Lanka's batting struggles against slower bowlers were exposed in their previous outing, where they failed to chase a modest 147 against England on a slow Pallekele surface.

The batting-friendly conditions seen in co-host nation India have not been replicated in Sri Lanka, where pitches have generally favoured bowlers. The trend is expected to continue at the R. Premadasa Stadium, where larger boundaries make six-hitting a tougher...