Lanka down Kiwis in mid-flight

Sanath Jayasuriya struck a sparkling century to inspire Sri Lanka to a comprehensive 47-run win over New Zealand in their opening World Cup ...

Sanath Jayasuriya struck a sparkling century to inspire Sri Lanka to a comprehensive 47-run win over New Zealand in their opening World Cup Group B match on Monday.

The Sri Lankan captain blasted 120 off 125 balls to help the 1996 champions amass a daunting total of 272 for seven before New Zealand, despite a magnificent 141 by Scott Styris, collapsed to 225 all out in front of a sparse crowd at Goodyear Park.

SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka: M Atapattu c Styris b Bond 6; S Jayasuriya lbw Astle 120; H Tillekeratne not out 81; M Jayawardena lbw Adams 1; A de Silva c Styris b Astle 12; K Sangakkara c Adams b Astle 13; R Arnold b Bond 12; C Vaas b Adams 5; M Muralitharan not out 4; Extras (b3, lb6, nb5, w4): 18; Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs): 272 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-193, 3-196, 4-213, 5-240, 6-256, 7-263 Bowling: Tuffey 5-0-36-0, Bond 10-1-44-2, Oram 10-0-37-0, Adams 9-0-58-2, Harris 4-0-26-0, Styris 5-0-28-0, Astle 7-0-34-3. New Zealand: S.Fleming c Sangakkara b Gunaratne 1; N.Astle run out 0; C.McMillan c Sangakkara b Gunaratne 3; S.Styris c Vaas b Arnold 141; C.Cairns c and b De Silva 32; L.Vincent c Muralitharan b Jayasuriya 1; C.Harris b Muralitharan 13; J.Oram st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 12; A.Adams c sub b Arnold 1; D.Tuffeyc Sangakkara b Arnold 4; S.Bond not out 2; Extras (w5, lb10): 15; Total (all out, 45.3 overs): 225 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-2, 3-15, 4-93, 5-94, 6-150, 7-179, 8-182, 9-200 Bowling: Vaas 7-0-22-0, Gunaratne 5-0-24-2, Fernando 3-1-19-0, Muralitharan 9-1-42-2, Jayasuriya 8-0-32-1, de Silva 5-0-29-1, Arnold 8.3-0-47-3. Story continues below this ad

Styris completed his first one-day hundred, his swashbuckling knock featured six sixes before he eventually threw his wicket away after running out of partners.

Hashan Tillakaratne chipped in with an unbeaten 81 and shared a 170-run partnership with Jayasuriya before the Kiwi bowlers struck back to capture six late wickets and restrict the Sri Lankans when a more daunting score had seemed likely.

But New Zealand, desperately needing to win the match after announcing they plan to boycott their pool game with Kenya because of security concerns, made a disastrous start to their reply when they lost their top three batsmen within the first six overs.

Styris scored almost two-thirds of his team’s runs with only all-rounder Chris Cairns (32) offering any other sustained resistance as Sri Lanka cruised to their 14th victory in their last 17 one-day games against New Zealand.

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