New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka, 2015 6th ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
New Zealand wrapped up a series victory with a resounding 120-run victory over Sri Lanka in the sixth one-day international in Dunedin.
The impressive all-round display saw the hosts compile 315-8 after winning the toss, before bowling out their guests for just 195, 57 balls shy of using their full allocation.
It meant they led the series 4-1 with just one more match to play and have hit some impressive form ahead of a World Cup next month which they will play primarily at home.
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| Batsman | Dismissal | Bowler | Runs | Mins | Balls |
| Guptill | c Sangakkara | b T Perera | 28 | 60 | 43 |
| B McCullum | c T Perera | b Prasad | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Williamson | run out (Sangakkara) | 97 | 139 | 95 | |
| Taylor | lbw | b Dilshan | 96 | 139 | 102 |
| Anderson | c T Perera | b Herath | 40 | 44 | 28 |
| Ronchi | c Karunaratne | b Prasad | 13 | 20 | 13 |
| Elliott | not out | 21 | 20 | 14 | |
| Vettori | run out (Sangakkara) | 3 | 11 | 3 | |
| Mills | run out (Karunaratne) | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Extras | 0nb 9w 4b 4lb | 17 | |||
| Total | for 8 (50.0 ovs) | 315 | |||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | |
| Lakmal | 7.0 | 1 | 31 | 0 | |
| Prasad | 10.0 | 0 | 59 | 2 | |
| Herath | 10.0 | 1 | 45 | 1 | |
| T Perera | 10.0 | 0 | 86 | 1 | |
| J Mendis | 5.0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
| Thirimanne | 2.0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Dilshan | 6.0 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
Brendon McCullum, keen to impose himself with the willow, looked at just one delivery before attacking Dhammika Prasad, but he holed out to leave the Black Caps 0-1, with Thisara Perera taking a magnificent catch.
Martin Guptill also struggled as Sri Lanka opened up with some disciplined and teasing seam bowling. He was hugely fortunate that DRS was down early in the day, meaning Sri Lanka could not review an leg-before-wicket (lbw) decision that looked for all the world as if it was out. A low catch by Kumar Sangakkara also could have been interpreted as clean, but Guptill was given the benefit of the doubt.
His wicket eventually came, falling for a painstaking 28—but that brought Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor together, whose 115-run stand gave them control of the game. Both men ultimately fell short of centuries, Williamson three runs shy after a running mix-up, while Taylor was four short when he was caught in front of the wicket by Tillakaratne Dilshan.
There was none of the explosiveness from the Black Caps that fans saw in the previous game at this venue, but Corey Anderson's 40 from 28 balls and a series of middle-order cameos took them well past 300 and transferred the pressure on to the tourists.
| Batsman | Dismissal | Bowler | Runs | Mins | Balls |
| Thirimanne | c Ronchi | b McClenaghan | 29 | 51 | 43 |
| Dilshan | c Ronchi | b Anderson | 21 | 46 | 36 |
| Sangakkara | c Vettori | b Boult | 81 | 106 | 66 |
| M Jayawardene | c B McCullum | b Anderson | 9 | 28 | 18 |
| Karunaratne | c Mills | b Anderson | 26 | 35 | 34 |
| Chandimal | run out (B McCullum) | 9 | 9 | 12 | |
| J Mendis | run out (Anderson) | 3 | 8 | 8 | |
| T Perera | lbw | b Anderson | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Prasad | run out (Mills) | 2 | 19 | 13 | |
| Herath | not out | 1 | 15 | 5 | |
| Lakmal | c Guptill | b McClenaghan | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Extras | 1nb 6w 0b 2lb | 9 | |||
| Total | all out (40.3 ovs) | 195 | |||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | |
| Mills | 6.0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| Boult | 8.0 | 2 | 31 | 1 | |
| Anderson | 10.0 | 0 | 52 | 4 | |
| McClenaghan | 4.3 | 1 | 29 | 2 | |
| Vettori | 8.0 | 1 | 22 | 0 | |
| Williamson | 2.0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Elliott | 2.0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
Sri Lanka's start was steady, Dilshan and stand-in captain Lahiru Thirimanne putting on 56 in just over 12 overs, but when Sangakkara arrived in the middle, the match looked winnable.
The veteran left-hander showed touch and aggression in his 66-ball 81, but once Dimuth Karunaratne, dropped down to batting at No. 5, fell for 26, all support just disappeared.
From 146-3, seven wickets fell for just 49 runs against a host of single-figure scores. New Zealand were on point in the field, two of those scalps coming by run outs, but there were plenty of disciplined bowling performances as well. Sports statistician Mohandas Menon noted Anderson's record-setting performance:
Daniel Vettori, playing a record 280th ODI for his country, sent down eight overs for just 22 runs, while opening bowler Kyle Mills, also back in the side, bowled frugally. Meanwhile Anderson took four wickets to run through the middle order, and Trent Boult ended Sri Lanka's final resistance when he drew a leading edge from Sangakkara.
New Zealand, enjoying a renaissance in all formats, will be a tough proposition throughout the World Cup.
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