While the Kiwis, one of the most balanced outfits, waltzed their way to a gargantuan 226 for five, the out-of-form islanders then trudged along to 152 for seven at the Wankhede Stadium.
New Zealand’s mammoth total was anchored by Colin Munro (67, 34b, 7×6) and Corey Anderson’s rapid-fire 92-run partnership off just 41 balls. The left-handed duo built on a quickfire start given by Martin Guptill. Munro impressed with his audacious strokeplay, with pacer Dasun Shanaka bearing the brunt. Munro whacked four successive sixes in the 10th over, which saw Shanaka concede 29 runs.
While Anderson continued his onslaught on the home turf of his IPL franchise, it was Munro’s switch-hit off offie Sachithra Senanayake, which landed in the upper tier of the Vijay Merchant pavilion, that was the stroke of the night.
The Kiwi pacers, all of whom bent their backs in the 15-a-side warm-up game, then stifled the Lankan top-order before Lahiru Thirimanne (41, 29b, 5×4, 2×6) and Chamara Kapugedera (38, 27b, 5×4) entertained a decent turnout with their strokeplay.
Despite the match being a lop-sided affair, both teams, as agreed earlier, returned to the field at the end and faced each other in the Super Over.
Sri Lanka finally had something to smile about.
Kapugedera tore Mitchell McClenaghan apart to plunder 25 runs. Suranga Lakmal then restricted the Kiwis to 20 runs despite bowling a wide and a no-ball.
The scores: New Zealand 226 for five (Colin Munro 67, Corey Anderson 60 retired, Martin Guptil 41, Grant Elliott 36 n.o., Dasun Shanaka two for 48) beat Sri Lanka 152 for seven (Lahiru Thirimanne 41, Chamara Kapugedera 38, Angleo Mathews 25 n.o., Adam Milne three for 26, Ish Sodhi two for 19).
