CWC'19: New Zealand overpower Sri Lanka by 10 wickets

New Zealand outperformed Sri Lanka in all the departments as they registered a 10-wicket victory over the latter at the Sophia Gardens here on Saturday.

Chasing a target of just 137 runs, both New Zealand openers, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro played brilliantly. Just like Sri Lankan batsmen, their bowler too displayed a disappointing performance as they were unable to take even a single wicket.

Consequently, Guptill played an unbeaten knock of 73 runs while Munro scored 58* runs to register a dominating 10-wicket victory in their first World Cup against Sri Lanka, who also lost their two World Cup warm-up matches at the hands of South Africa and Australia earlier.

New Zealand batters just took 16.1 overs to chase the total as both Guptill and Munro played furiously and faced just 51 and 47 balls respectively.

Earlier, Sri Lanka lost the toss and was sent to bat first. Sri Lanka opener Lahiru Thirimanne smashed a four on the first bowl but on the very next delivery became a victim of Matthew James Henry.

The skipper Dimuth Karunaratne then got the company of Kusal Perera. Both played steadily and formed a 42-run partnership. However, in the ninth over, Henry struck again and sent Perera (29) and the next batsman Kusal Mendis back to the pavilion on first two deliveries of his over.

After their dismissal, Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat but he too was sent back to the pavilion by Lockie Ferguson in the 12th over. Angelo Mathews then came out to bat but he too got out on a duck in the 15th over bowled by Colin de Grandhomme.

Therefore, after the conclusion of 15th over, Sri Lanka were on just 60 runs with half of their squad back to the pavilion because of New Zealand's perilous bowling attack.

Jeevan Mendis took the field but got out after scoring just one run. However, Karunaratne kept the scoreboard running but did not get support from the other end batsmen as they kept losing their wickets.

Thisara Perera then accompanied Karunaratne and both added 52 runs on the scoreboard to provide their side with much-needed momentum. Thisara Perera played a knock of 27 runs before Mitchell Santer got hold of him in the 24th over.

Isuru Udana then came out to bat but in the next over, he too got out on a duck. Upcoming batsmen Suranga Lakmal and Lasith Malinga too got out in quick succession. With this Sri Lanka side were all-out on just 136 runs and within 30 overs. Karunaratne played an unbeaten knock of 52 runs and helped his side post a somewhat decent target.

New Zealand will now face Bangladesh on June 5 while Sri Lanka will compete with Afghanistan on June 4.

Brief scores: New Zealand 137/0 (Martin Guptill 73*, Colin Munro 58*, Suranga Lakmal 0-28) defeated Sri Lanka 136/10 (Dimuth Karunaratne 52*, Kusal Perera 29, Lockie Ferguson 3-22) by 10 wickets.