New Zealand pulled off an improbable heist to go up 1-0 in the Dialog Cup at Hambanthota yesterday.
Chasing a steep total of 198 in 23 overs in a rain affected encounter, the Kiwis put up a valiant fight throughout their curtailed innings, with Tom Latham and Luke Ronchi leading the charge. Latham top scored with 86, and was ably supported by Ronchi who made 49, but it was Nathan McCullum who pulled a rabbit out of the hat for New Zealand, smashing 32 off 9 deliveries to snatch the game away from under Sri Lanka’s nose.
Earlier, with the likelihood of rain, and the very real possibility of Duckworth and Lewis coming into play, the captain winning the toss may have been expected to field first, but the pitch looked to be a good one for batting, and captain Mathews elected to bat first in Sri Lanka’s 700th ODI. Sri Lanka fielded an unchanged side, and followed a script not dissimilar to that of the first game, with Dimuth Karunaratne squandering yet another opportunity before TM Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara stamped their class and authority on the Kiwi attack, dispatching them to all parts of the ground with ease.
The veteran pair had pushed Sri Lanka to 117/1 by the 21st over, with Dilshan on 55 and Sangakkara on 71 before torrential rain stopped play for over five hours. With the entry of Duckworth and Lewis inevitable, many would have questioned the sensibility behind Mathew’ decision to bat first with the threat of rain around. Yet it was the Kiwi fans that were more aggrieved when the revised scores were announced, as they were set a target of 198 in 23 overs. Sri Lanka had faced 14 deliveries after the rain break and pushed up their total to 138 in the same number of overs earlier.
It was New Zealand’s batsman that stole the show however, as they responded to pre series claims of their frailty splendidly, chasing down an improbable score and snatching an unexpected series lead. Sri Lanka may have held a greater edge had the game been played out through the full fifty overs, but only have their board to blame, for scheduling the games during the Monsoon period. The loss also hits the chance of giving the younger players an outing, as the Lankans will want to ensure victory in the final ODI so as to save themselves further embarrassment.
New Zealand 203 for 6 (Latham 86, Ronchi 49) beat Sri Lanka 138 for 1 (Sangakkara 71*, Dilshan 55*) by four wickets (D/L method)
