The Black Caps have been haunted by the concept in the past, winning only two of their nine games that have gone to the six-ball frenzy.
They were snuffed out again on Sunday as a thrilling T20 super over victory went Sri Lanka’s way at Eden Park, giving the visiting side a 1-0 advantage in the series ahead of tomorrow’s game in Dunedin.
It was a dramatic end to the game, with Ish Sodhi levelling the scores with a mammoth six, before Maheesh Theekshana stepped up to do the damage for Sri Lanka.
Youngster Rachin Ravindra was philosophical about the loss — he was experiencing his first international super over — and relished the spectacle T20 cricket provided.
"It was interesting, eh?" Ravindra said yesterday.
"The history between New Zealand and super overs obviously hasn’t been as kind to us as we would have liked, but that’s OK — that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes."
The Black Caps have been tracking well this summer, and have not dropped a game since their test win over England, but might need to review their super over approach.
"I think it’s probably something that we could discuss and see what needs to be done, but at the end of the day, it’s quite fickle.
"I guess you’ve got six balls to score as many runs as you can, and six balls to defend."
The Black Caps struggled to get partnerships going throughout the innings, but individual performances from Daryl Mitchell (66) and Mark Chapman (33) helped them stay in the game.
Sri Lanka was a much better side than its ODI outings, and Theekshana’s variations of the carrom ball at pace kept the Black Caps guessing.
While the Black Caps needed to keep a close eye on his deliveries, Ravindra was keeping his eyes open to better his own bowling game.
"It’s something that’s made me think as well.
"It’s definitely something I can take forward in terms of my learning and see how I can develop something like that as well."
Making the step up for regular international games this series, and making his ODI debut, gave him more confidence to take on different roles within the batting order.
"Obviously, domestically, I’ve potentially been batting up the order and then here it’s a slightly different role.
"I guess being able to adapt and assess those conditions quickly in a different role ... it adds another string to my bow, I guess, in that way."
He gets another chance tomorrow at the University Oval in the Black Caps’ second T20 against Sri Lanka.
The score from Sunday’s game was "irrelevant" as long as they could tidy up a couple of areas in the field and with the bat.
"Whether you win or lose, there’s always going to be a couple of work-ons. We’ll get into the nets, figure out a couple of things.
"Obviously we’re not trying to search or anything, but look, Sri Lanka played a good game and we also played a good game, and that’s just the way it goes."
