Sri Lanka continued their impressive dominance in ODIs at home in the ongoing calendar year as they pipped a resilient New Zealand in the second ODI of the series by three wickets to take an unassailable lead.
Kusal Mendis was the star of the fixture at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Sunday as he caused two stumpings and scored an unbeaten 74 to take his side home in a nerve-wracking finish.
Chasing 210 for a series win, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Kusal occupied the crease with a strong vigil and added an unbeaten 47-run stand with Maheesh Theekshana (27* runs off 44 balls) to thwart the efforts of the tourists for a comeback win.
Spin-bowling allrounder Michael Bracewell was superb with the ball in hand and kept the Kiwis in the hunt throughout the second innings.
Bracewell registered match figures of 4/36 in his 10 and claimed the big wickets of Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka before knocking over Dunith Wellalage.
Unfortunately for New Zealand, Bracewell didn’t have someone to accompany him much in the wickets column.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka won the toss and sent New Zealand in on a spin-friendly deck in Pallekele.
New Zealand lost their opener Tim Robinson early after he missed a straighter one from Wellalage and got out in the second over. Henry Nicholls, Will Young and Glenn Phillips also failed to contribute much and departed before the team could even scale the 100-run mark.
A 75-run stand between Mark Chapman and Mitchell Hay for the fifth wicket rescued New Zealand from the initial slump. Chapman top-scored for the Blackcaps with a 76 off 81 deliveries including seven fours and three sixes. On the other hand, also batted beautifully against spin but missed out on a well-deserved half-century as Theekshana got the better of him on 49.
Theekshana was the pick of all the Sri Lankan bowlers as he registered figures of 3/31. He was well supported by Jeffrey Vandersay who also claimed a three-wicket haul while conceding 46 runs in his ten overs. This is Sri Lanka’s fifth series win in ODIs at home in 2024.