Muralitharan takes five in Sri Lanka win

Sri Lanka scored 213 for eight in their 50 overs and then bowled New Zealand out for 152 in 42.5 overs, Muralitharan taking five for 30 and pace bowler Eric Upashantha four for 37.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming bitterly criticised his side’s inept batting. “Our batting throughout was poor,” he said. “We needed a good start and we didn’t get it. There were a number of soft dismissals in that and it’s not good enough.”

“We have got the best players in the country playing in this series but they certainly didn’t perform today. We’ll have to address that before the next game.”

Upashantha took the first four New Zealand wickets in an inspired eight-over spell, including two in the one over to dismiss Nathan Astle and Fleming. Muralitharan had been doubtful for the match after suffering a groin injury on the recent tour of South Africa, where he missed the last one-day international and the final Test. But he proved in fine form and all but Chris Harris, who made 39 not out, found him difficult to handle.

Two balls which skidded through low trapped Roger Twose and Daniel Vettori leg before and two more bowled tailenders Andrew Penn and Chris Martin.

Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya said he thought his team’s total of 213 had been a good one for the conditions. “We would have liked a few more but it gave us the chance to put on some pressure and Nuwan (Zoysa) and Eric gave us a really good start and the pressure was on New Zealand from the start,” Jayasuriya said. “We were confident going into this match because we had won our last one-dayer in South Africa and we knew New Zealand had lost a series to Zimbabwe. We knew we could do it.”

Earlier, a gritty 50 from Sri Lankan middle-order batsman Russel Arnold gave the tourists the chance to set a competitive target, while New Zealand spinner Vettori made a welcome return to the international scene after injury to take three for 21 in his 10 overs. (Reuters)

SRI LANKA:Jayasuriya c Parore b Martin 4; Attapattu c Parore b Vettori 29; Sangakkara c Astle b Franklin 12; Jayawardene lbw Vettori 32; A.de Silva lbw Vettori 17; Arnold run out (Martin) 50; Dharmasena c Harris b Astle 32; Upashantha c Parore b Martin 1; Zoysa not out 11; Muralitheran not out 1; Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-16, nb-2): 24; Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs): 213
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-43, 3-90, 4-95, 5-116, 6-177, 7-180, 8-212
Bowling: Martin 10-1-56-2, Penn 4-1-29-0, Franklin 10-0-39-1, Harris 10-0-33-0, Vettori 10-0-21-3, Astle 5-0-22-1, McMillan 1-0-7-0

NEW ZEALAND:Sinclair c Muralitharan b Upashantha 25; Astle c Sangakkara b Upashantha 1; Fleming lbw Upashantha 0; Twose lbw Muralitharan 23; McMillan c Jayasuriya b Upashantha 0; Harris not out 39; Parore c Fernando b Muralitharan 2; Vettori lbw Muralitharan 11; Franklin run out (Fernando) 13; Penn b Muralitharan 15; Martin b Muralitharan 0; Extras (b-2, lb-7, w-12,nb-2): 23; Total (all out, 42.5 overs): 152
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-16, 3-35, 4-40, 5-66, 6-72, 7-93, 8-122, 9-147
Bowling: Zoysa 7-0-14-0, Upashantha 8-2-37-4, Dharmasena 8-1-19-0, Fernando 8-0-36-0, Muralitharan 7.5-0-30-5, De Silva 4-0-7-0
Result: Sri Lanka won by 61 runs.