New Zealand sealed their one-day series against Sri Lanka yesterday, with Martin Guptill’s century spearheading a 36-run victory in the fifth and final one-dayer at Mount Maunganui.
Matt Henry’s five-wicket bag helped ensure the hosts took a 3-1 series win to go with their 2-0 Test domination last month.
New Zealand posted 294 for five batting first at the popular beachside resort venue with Guptill making 102, before Sri Lanka were all out for 258 with 17 balls remaining. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, with a brave knock of 95, had set the scene for a cliff-hanger finish when he led his side to 223 for five, before the tail folded in six overs for the addition of only 35 runs.
Photo: AP
The last three wickets fell for six runs in the space of 10 deliveries. Along with Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Milinda Siriwardana played their part in keeping Sri Lanka in with a chance for most of the their innings.
Mathews and Chandimal produced a 93-run stand for the fourth wicket before Trent Boult, making his first appearance in the series, dismissed Chandimal for 50.
After Thisara Perera (15) made a brief appearance at the crease Siriwardana and Mathews cracked 62 off 40 to have Sri Lanka at 223-5 with nine overs and five wickets to get the remaining 72 runs.
However, when Siriwardana fell to Mitchell Santner for 39, New Zealand rammed home their advantage.
At the start of the day Guptill capped a remarkable home season with his 10th ODI century, reaching 102 in 109 deliveries to go with his 79, 93 not out, 30 and 27 earlier in the series. When Mathews won the toss and put New Zealand into bat he had an immediate result with Tom Latham out in the first over without scoring.
However, Guptill and Kane Williamson then established New Zealand’s dominance with 122 for the second wicket. Any loose ball was despatched toward the boundary with a Guptill four bringing up their century partnership in 115 balls.
However, a lapse in timing by Williamson on 61 led to his undoing when he gloved an attempt to sweep a leg-side delivery from Tillakaratne Dilshan and wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal snared the catch.
Ross Taylor put on 81 for the third wicket with Guptill, who was caught by Thisara Perera off Nuwan Kulasekara. Taylor brought up his half-century with a six to mid-wicket before also falling to Kulasekara.
Sri Lanka in reply were on the back foot in the third over when Dilshan, marking his 300th ODI, was removed by Boult for 5.
Henry bowled Lahiru Thirimanne for two and had Danushka Gunathilaka caught for 15 as Sri Lanka slumped to 33 for three after nine overs before Mathews put some respectability into their innings. Henry, who was only required by New Zealand for three of the five matches, finished with five for 50 to give him 13 wickets in the series, while Boult took three for 43.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to