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Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by three wickets in a rain-curtailed 47 overs per side affair at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on November 17 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-ODI series. Kusal Mendis remained unbeaten on 74 as he broke Kumar Sangakkara's record for highest individual score by a Sri Lankan wicketkeeper against New Zealand in a successful run chase. Maheesh Theekshana's crucial knock of 27 in 47-run partnership helped Sri Lanka get over the line with an over to spare.
Spinners get early breakthroughs
Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. On a spin-friendly track, left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage opened the bowling fron the other end. Opener Tim Robinson got bowled for a single-digit score by Wellalage. Then Theekshana was introduced into the attack and he knocked over Henry Nicholls. Will Young got off to a good start but got stumped for a 40-ball 26 to Jeffrey Vandersay. Glenn Phillips could not convert the start into a big score and fell for a 22-ball 15 to Asalanka in 24th over.
Chapman's fifty, Hay runs out of partners
Mark Chapman and Mitch Hay steadied the ship and shared a 75-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Chapman missed a chance to score a century. Pacer Asitha Fernando got the better of him. Chapman scored 76 runs from 81 balls including seven fours and three sixes. In the same over, Fernando dismissed Michael Bracewell for a four-ball duck. A few overs later, Vandersay struck twice to dismiss skipper Mitchell Snatner and Nathan Smith off consecutive deliveries. Ish Sodhi showed promise but was outfoxed by Theekshana. Running out of partners, Hay became Theekshana's third victim of the day as Kiwis were bowled out for 209 in 45.1 overs. He scored 49 runs from 62 balls.
Kusal's patient knock outdoes Bracewell's four-fer
Santner adopted a similar approach by introducing Santner early on. He dismissed Avishka Fernando in the fifth over. Pathum Nissanka failed to convert a start and lost his wicket to Bracewell after scoring 28 runs from 33 balls. In his next over, Bracewell got the prized wicket of Kamindu Mendis for a three-ball duck. Bracewell's third strike was Asalanka who scored 13 runs from 12 balls. Glenn Phillips got into the act as well with the wicket of Sadeera Samarawickrama. Sri Lanka lost half the side for 93 runs. Kusal continued to anchor the run chase. He shared small partnerships with Janith Liyanage (22) and Wellalage (18) before finishing the job with Theekshana. Bracewell's four-fer went in vain as Kusal remained unbeaten for 74 off 102 balls.
The third and final ODI of the series will be played at the same venue on November 19.
