Mendis, Fernando and spinners star as Sri Lanka clinch rain-affected ODI opener

Maheesh Theekshana (2-32), Charith Asalanka (2-15) and Jeffrey Vandersay (1-40) spun Sri Lanka to a come-from-behind victory as they sealed a 45-run win (DLS method) over New Zealand in the second ODI in Dambulla. It was Sri Lanka’s first ODI win over New Zealand dating back to December 2015.

Chasing a target of 221 from 27 overs after a lengthy rain break, New Zealand seemed on course to get across the line through their openers Will Young (48 off 46) and Tim Robinson (35 off 36) but the introduction of spin triggered a collapse that virtually decided the result in favour of the home side. From 88/0, the visitors lost five wickets for just 22 runs in 29 deliveries and the chase never took off after that.

It did seem like the Black Caps would take the lead in the series while Young and Robinson were batting. The former in particular looked in fluent touch and showed glimpses of his heroics from the historic Test series win in India. Robinson, albeit scratchy, kept the momentum going along with his partner before falling to Theekshana, stumped in a bid to charge the spinner. Young also fell to the same bowler soon, cleaned up in a bid to up the ante. Asalanka’s twin strikes of Henry Nicholls and Mark Chapman further dented New Zealand as they started to run out of wickets and momentum.

When Glenn Phillips fell to Vandersay, the game was all but done even with Michael Bracewell (34* off 32) trying his best from one end. The spin choke had completely taken the air out of New Zealand’s chase and Dilshan Madushanka (3-39) did a neat clean up job at the end by mopping up the lower order. It completed a convincing win for Sri Lanka whose masterly batting performance earlier in the day was set up by tons from Kusal Mendis (143) and Avishka Fernando (100). The duo’s 206-run stand put the hosts en route to a formidable total on a good batting surface.

The centurions batted with fluency and poise, and compensated for the early loss of Pathum Nissanka who looked good during his brief stay out there. While Mendis continued his stellar form in 2024 across the white-ball formats, Fernando conjured a much-needed century, his first in the format since 2021. The former was the aggressor for most parts and was particularly severe on spin. Fernando bided his time early on and then he too feasted on the spinners. New Zealand’s slow bowlers had a forgettable outing as they leaked 211 runs off the 33 overs bowled, conceding at 6.39 runs-per-over with just two wickets between them.

The visitors did pull things back a bit towards the back end but by then, the damage was already done. Sri Lanka’s innings was cut short at 49.2 with heavy showers intervening for the second time in the day after having caused a 30-minute interruption at the start of the innings. This break, however, was extensive and reduced the contest to a 27-over chase for New Zealand. The Black Caps would have welcomed the shorter chase but in the end, they couldn’t execute their plans well enough.

Brief scores:Sri Lanka 324/5 in 49.2 overs (Kusal Mendis 143, Avishka Fernando 100; Jacob Duffy 3-41) beat New Zealand.175/9 in 27 overs (Will Young 48, Tim Robinson 35; Dilshan Madushanka 3-39, Maheesh Theekshana 2-32) by 45 runs (DLS method)