Guptill hit nine boundaries and four sixes during his innings of 79
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill smashed 79 and captain Brendon McCullum hammered 55 to lead their side to a convincing seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI in Christchurch.
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews would have been regretting his decision to bat first as his side were reduced to 65/6 before Milinda Siriwardana and Nuwan Kulasekara amassed a 98-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries.
The stand was finally broken when Siriwardana was caught by McCullum at mid-off off the bowling of Doug Bracewell.
Siriwardana’s excellent knock of 66 came off 82 balls and included seven boundaries.
Siriwardana made a valiant 66
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Kulasekara ended up scoring 58 off 73 deliveries, which included two boundaries and five sixes, before he was caught behind off the bowling of Mitchell McClenaghan.
Kulasekara made a gutsy 58
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Following Kulasekara’s dismissal, Sri Lanka’s lower order collapsed and they were ultimately dismissed for 188.
Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Bracwell snapped up three, McClenaghan took two and Adam Milne chipped in with one.
Chasing 189 to win, New Zealand got off to a blistering start as Guptill and McCullum put together a quickfire 108-run partnership, during which McCullum registered his half-century, before he was caught by Suranga Lakmal at backward point off the bowling of Siriwardana.
McCullum’s entertaining innings of 55 came off 25 balls and included 11 boundaries and a six.
McCullum scored his 32nd ODI fifty
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Guptill and Tom Latham kept the runs flowing with a 54-run stand, during which Guptill recorded his half-century, before Latham was clean bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan for 18.
Guptill did not last much longer as he was caught by Kulasekara at long-off off the bowling of Siriwardana for 79 off 56 deliveries, which included nine boundaries and four sixes.
Guptill’s wicket was to be Sri Lanka’s last taste of success as debutant Henry Nicholls and Ross Taylor mopped up the remaining runs to lead New Zealand to victory.
Siriwardana was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Dilshan claimed one.
Mathews was disappointed to have lost the match, and said: “Winning the toss was crucial. Unfortunately, we kept losing wickets in 10 overs. It was a good effort from Kulasekara and Siriwardana. They bowled well and we couldn’t handle it. It was just that we could not negotiate the 10 overs. It is not easy to bowl at Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill. They are power hitters and we need to shove it under the carpet. It has to be a quick turnaround for us.”
McCullum was delighted with his side’s performance, and said: “I thought both Milne and Henry were outstanding. We have two wonderful bowlers in Southee and Boult, they have been the kingpins, but the others have stepped up. It was a 280-290 par wicket. Martin stuck the ball clean and he deserved the runs. Great crowd, and we go again in 48 hours. We will have a quiet day tomorrow. We are starting to build some depth.”
Henry was named Man of the Match, and said: “It is fantastic to be back in the side. I was just working on getting the rhythm back. For Canterbury, I have always had the new ball. I am also developing into a change-up role. The crowd was awesome.”