Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 14 runs in 2nd ODI

By Fathima Zanaida 

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) November 4, 2012: Inclement weather once again left bad taste in the mouth of cricket lovers on Sunday when rain forced another cricket game to use the infamous Duckworth-Lewis Method as Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the five-match One Day Internationals by winning the second ODI at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium by 14 runs.

Watching cricket action in Sri Lanka has been a tough thing this season as right from the Sri Lanka Premier League, the ICC World Twenty20 2012, and now the New Zealand tour to Sri Lanka all saw some of the potentially best matches either washed out or were decided on the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

The first One Day International of the series was washed out and the second match also succumbed to inclement weather conditions on Sunday when New Zealand gave them a great chance by scoring 250 runs for the loss of six wickets from their 50 overs.

New Zealand were looking good to make a match of this one as they had reduced Sri Lanka to 118 for three from 22.5 overs before rain played spoilsport at Pallekele and at that point in time the hosts were 14 runs above the par score as per the Duckworth-Lewis Method calculations.

Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews were at the crease and the Kiwi bowlers had already gotten rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara and scalp of Mahela could have made the match all the more interesting, but it wasn’t to be in the end.

Batting first, New Zealand scored 250/6, thanks to four major knocks led by skipper Ross Taylor who hit 72 from 62 balls smashing seven boundaries and two maximums.

BJ Watling (55 from 86 – 6 fours), Rob Nicol (46 from 74 - 3 fours), and James Franklin (35 not out from 40 – 1 six) also came good with the bat after New Zealand had to leave out Brendon McCullum due to a strain.

The BlackCaps innings had two major partnerships, one between Rob Nicol and and BJ Watling worth 83 runs for the second wicket and second between skipper Ross Taylor and James Franklin as they added 91 for the fourth wicket.

Lasith Malinga took two wickets for 39 runs while Rangana Herath proved difficult to get away as he bowled a miser spell of one for 28. Nuwan Kulasekara (10-1-50-1), Angelo Mathews (7-0-38-1), and Thisara Perera (7-0-52-1) also captured a wicket each.

Chasing 251-run target was not a walk in the park at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and the home side needed one of their three top batsmen, i.e. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Mahela Jayawardene, to stay there right to the end.

However, it was rain which had the final say as Sri Lanka scored 118 for three from 22.5 overs when rain finally put an end to cricket action and with it New Zealand’s chances of winning the second ODI.

Lasith Malinga was declared Man of the Match for his disciplined and hostile bowling spell.

The two teams will contest the third One Day International at the same venue on November 6 (Tuesday).