Batsman Colin Munro is relishing the challenge of balancing his approach to ODI and T20I batting during New Zealand’s ongoing limited-over series against Sri Lanka.

The South African-born Munro has an average of 33.60 and strike rate of 161.23 in the shortest format. His ODI aggregate and strike rate, though, are 26.17 and 106.17 respectively.

‘In T20 it’s a bit of fun and you try and go from ball one. But in ODI cricket I’ve found that although early on sometimes I can play the same way as I do in a T20, to get off to a flyer, sometimes that’s not the case and it’s about playing to the conditions and playing to the situation of what the team needs,’ said Munro.

‘You might lose a couple of early wickets and you’ve got to knuckle down and play the longer game. Otherwise, on another day, if Martin Guptill and I are both going, we could be 70, 80, 90 off the Powerplay – who knows?’

The hard-hitting right-hander was part of New Zealand’s tour of the United Arab Emirates for a series against Pakistan late last year. In the current series against the Sri Lankans he has scored 13 and 87.

‘I’ve been happy with the way I was hitting the ball, even in the UAE when I wasn’t getting big scores. I felt like I was giving myself enough time to get in, but I was getting out,’ he added.

New Zealand sport an unassailable two-nil series lead over Sri Lanka. The third and final ODI will be played in Nelson on Tuesday.

Photo: Getty