New Zealand continue to present themselves as a serious World Cup contender after they beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs in Christchurch.
NZ scored a hefty 331 with quality contributions from across the batting order. Brendan McCullum’s 65 off 49 balls and Corey Anderson’s 75 off 46 balls were highlights, while Martin Guptill (49) and Kane Williamson (57) added to the tourists pain. The home side accelerated late in their innings to score 102 runs from the last 10 overs.
Lasith Malinga played his first one-day international since undergoing ankle surgery last year but his figures of 0 for 84 would suggest it may have been a little too early to remove the bandages. McCullum poured salt in Malinga’s wounds byt scoring 23 runs by in the pace bowlers fourth over.
Sri Lanka never really got their steam up with the bat apart from Lahiru Thirimanne’s 65 (off 60 balls). Kumar Sangakkara contributed with 39 as did captain Angelo Mathews with 49.
New Zealand take on Scotland on Tuesday and Sri Lanka battle Zimbabwe five days after that.
