Pallekele, Nov 5: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene hit an unbeaten 43 off 49 deliveries as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 14 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-hit second one-day international on Sunday.
Batting first after winning the toss, New Zealand made 250 for six in their allotted 50 overs at Pallekele International Stadium. Captain Ross Taylor led the batsmen with 72 and he was well supported by BJ Watling (55), Rob Nicol (46) and James Franklin (35 not out).
In reply, Sri Lanka reached 118 for three in 22.5 overs when the rain halted play, well above the 104 runs required under the Duckworth/Lewis method.
No match is yet been completed on this tour with only 16 overs of play being possible in the only Twenty20 and the first one-day international called off without a ball being bowled because of rain. However with this win Sri Lanka has managed to go up 1-0 in the one-day series with three more matches to be played.
Sri Lanka lost opener Upul Tharanga (6) early in their chase caught by wicketkeeper Watling off seam bowler Kyle Mills. Kumar Sangakkara started a promising innings scoring 11 runs off 13 balls but he was dismissed soon after a 50minute rain interruption caught by Nicol off seamer Trent Boult.
Jayawardene joined Tillakaratne Dilshan when Sri Lanka looked nervous at 39 for two and the pair added 59 runs off 65 deliveries which helped the hosts to keep pace with the Duckworth/Lewis par score. Jayawardene hit five boundaries.
New Zealand captain Taylor introduced spin in the 19th over and reaped immediate success when Dilshan tried to flick a flighted delivery from Nathan McCullum and was caught at mid-wicket by Kane Williamson.
When New Zealand batted Taylor hit two sixes and seven boundaries in his 72 runs off 62 deliveries to lift his team from a slow start to a competitive 250 for six.
Taylor put on a 91-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Franklin (35 not out) in 70 balls building on a solid foundation provided by Watling and Nicol.
The Kiwis got off to a slow start after Taylor won the toss and elected to bat as disciplined Sri Lanka bowlers limited the tourists to fewer than four runs per over until the 38th over of the innings.
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga produced the first breakthrough for the hosts when he had a delivery nip back at Tom Latham who was bowled with New Zealand on 17.
Latham, who faced 18 deliveries for his two runs, has failed to impress in the two innings he has batted on this tour scoring just four runs in the only Twenty20 match that was abandoned due to rain.
After the early loss, Nicol and No. 3 batsman Watling shared 83 runs for the second wicket.
Seam bowler Thisara Perera ended the stand when he had Nicol caught behind by Sangakkara for 46 with the total on 100. Nicol faced 74 deliveries and hit three boundaries.
Watling recorded his fourth one-day half-century but was out for 55 caught at mid-wicket by Jayawardene off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. Watling faced 86 deliveries and hit six boundaries.
Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara ended Taylor's innings after completing his 21st one-day half-century when he had him caught by a diving Angelo Mathews at extra-cover.
Malinga took two wickets for 39 runs for Sri Lanka and won the player of the match award.
