New Zealand thrashes Sri Lanka

Guptill, who had raced away to 46 from 12 deliveries, missed bettering AB de Villiers’ 16-ball effort but became the fastest New Zealander to score an ODI fifty (off 17 balls) – eclipsing Brendon McCullum (18 balls) – enroute his 30-ball 93* against Sri Lanka in the second ODI.

Sri Lanka had been bowled out for 117 in only 27.3 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat and Guptill made 93 to blast New Zealand to victory in only 8.2 overs and 40 minutes. Sriwardana was caught by McCullum off Bracewell and in the next over Kulasekara was out on the bowling of McCleanghan courtesy an outstanding catch by Luke Ronchi.

“We just had to bat and put runs on the board to put pressure on the Kiwis but unfortunately we kept losing wickets in the first 10 overs (and) that was really tough going”, said Mathews. In the process of his 30-ball 93, Guptill smashed some records for New Zealand.

“They are power hitters and they go after the bowling from the very beginning”.

He got a boundary for the shot and then hit three more in a row in Nuwan Kulasekara’s first over, including a six over long-on.

The big-hitting McCullum, who announced before the five-match ODI series began that he will retire from global cricket in February, lived up to his pledge to bow out on top of his game.

New Zealand have played four matches across all formats of the game at Hagley Oval and have beaten the visitors comfortably on each occasion.

New Zealand are heading for an easy second win in their ODI series against Sri Lanka at Haagley Oval.

Siriwardana stemmed the rot with 66 and Kulasekara added 58.

Siriwardana’s dismissal started the final slide in which the last four wickets fell for 25 runs.

One bright spot for Sri Lanka in the failed Test campaign was the emergence of 23-year-old Dushmantha Chameera as a talented quick bowler.

New Zealand soon had a hundred runs by the seventh over, and the entire match was reminiscent of their demolition of England during the World Cup.

The top five batsmen which included experienced pros such as Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, and Angelo Matthews were all dismissed in single digit scores.

Kulasekara played an equal role in a spirited fightback, producing a 73-ball innings which included two fours and five sixes. This was also their fourth 10-wicket win loss in ODIs and their first against New Zealand. This is the ideal opportunity for Chandimal to make his mark and help lift Sri Lanka.

“He has not come for the ODIs”, team manager Jerry Woutersz told Cricinfo in Christchurch.