Wellington: Kumar Sangakkara's masterful double of a century and a world-record wicket-keeping performance inspired Sri Lanka to a 34-run win over New Zealand in their one-day series finale on Thursday.
Even though it was a dead rubber, with New Zealand going into the match holding an unbeatable 4-1 lead in the seven-match series, it was a morale-boosting win for Sri Lanka who had under performed in the earlier matches.
They posted their highest total of the series with 287-6 from 50 overs, with Sangakkara contributing an unbeaten 113, and New Zealand were all out for 253 in the 46th over.
When Corey Anderson threatened to blast New Zealand into contention with 29 off 20 deliveries, Sangakkara's diving one-handed catch to remove the sixth wicket made him the most successful ODI keeper. It was his 473rd dismissal, one more than the previous record set by Australian Adam Gilchrist.
Although the victory restored some confidence to Sri Lanka they still have concerns about their batting depth with only Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne contributing decent partnerships with Sangakkara.
Sangakkara put on 71 for the first wicket with Thirimanne (30) and 104 for the second wicket with Dilshan (81) who was caught behind off Tim Southee with Sri Lanka looking strong at 175-2 and 17 overs remaining. But as has been the pattern in their previous innings, they were unable to accelerate the scoring despite having wickets in hand.
