Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second of the two Twenty20 matches, part of international cricket’s historic attempt to break into the US market.
Lanka triumphed in the low-scoring affair with more than four overs to spare to earn a 1-1 draw in the series on Sunday.
Nuwan Kulasekara tore through New Zealand’s top order, taking three wickets in the second over as he removed openers Brendon McCullum and Aaron Redmond along with Rob Nicol.
New Zealand were an embarrassing 13/5 at one stage. Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum were the only New Zealanders to reach double figures, but the 81 amassed by New Zealand was no challenge for Sri Lanka even on the slow, lifeless pitch.
Mahela Jayawardene got Sri Lanka going with a 12-ball 17. Thissara Parera added 24 and Tillakaratne Dilshan overcame his struggles to find his timing for an unbeaten 33. — AFP
Scores: New Zealand 81 in 17.3 overs (Nathan McCullum 36, Vettori 27; Kulasekara 3/4, Malinga 3/12) lost to Sri Lanka 86/3 in 15.3 overs (Dilshan 33, Perera 24; Nathan McCullum 2/15)