Kiwis crush Lanka in low-scoring contest

A slow and low surface and large field at the only ICC certified cricket stadium in the United States meant the crowd got to see few boundaries, with just two sixes and 13 fours, in the T20 international.

New Zealand made 120 with Ross Taylor striking 27 and skipper Daniel Vettori a crucial 21 not out at the back end of the innings. Sri Lanka never really got going in reply with New Zealand seamer Kyle Mills removing openers Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan cheaply. Angelo Mathews top-scored for Sri Lanka with 27 as they stumbled to 92 all out with two balls remaining, Scott Styris taking three wickets for ten runs in three overs.

SCORE BOARD

NEW ZEALAND
B McCullum c Mathews b K’kara    18
Redmond c Malinga b Mathews    8
Nicol b Randiv    10
Taylor (run out)    27
Styris b Mendis    10
Vettori (not out)    21
Guptill b Mendis    10
N McCullum c J’dene b Malinga    9
Mills (not out)    2
Extras (LB-1, W-4)    5
Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs)    120
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-27, 3-51, 4-71, 5-77, 6-94, 7-113.
Bowling: Mathews 3-0-17-1, Kulasekara 3-0 22-1, Malinga 4-0-25-1, Randiv 2-0-12-1, Perera 4-0-25-0, Mendis 4-0-18-2.
SRI LANKA
J’dene c B McCullum b Mills    0
Dilshan b Mills    6
Sangakkara c Styris b Vettori    17
Mathews c Oram b Styris    27
Kapugedera c Redmond b Styris    7
Jayasinghe (not out)    9
Perera c N McCullum b Styris    3
Kulasekara (run out)    6
Randiv c B McCullum b McKay    6
Malinga (run out)    0
Mendis b McKay    2
Extras (B-1, LB-4, W-3, NB-1)    9
Total (all out, 19.4 overs)    92
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-20, 3-48, 4-62, 5-62, 6-69, 7-78, 8-85, 9-85.
Bowling: Mills 4-0-17-2, McKay 3.4-0-20-2, Southee 3-0-10-0, N McCullum 2-0-19-0, Vettori 4-0-11-1, Styris 3-0-10-3.