New Zealand A spin duo, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner starred for the hosts as they defeated Sri Lanka A by 8 wickets in their first unofficial ODI match at Christchurch on Monday.
Sri Lanka A made a solid start after being asked to bat first in chilly conditions but once Dhanushka Gunathilake (57 in 83 balls) and Kithuruwan Vithanage (58 in 68 balls) added 95 for the second wicket New Zealand’s spin attack of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi took control.
The visitors were 134 for 1 at one stage but the left-arm spin of Santner and leg-spin of Sodhi ripped through the Lankan middle order.
Sodhi removed Gunathilake and Vithanage after they scored their third 50+ score in the current tour. The leg-spinner took his 3rd wicket of Shehan Jayasuriya just as he was getting into his stride scoring 25 from 26 balls.
The visitors lost their last 9 wickets for 80 runs with left-arm spinner Santner claiming 4 wickets for just 38 runs bowling his full quota of 10 overs.
Chasing 216 runs to win, Hamish Rutherford and Micheal Pollard put on 52 runs for the 1st wicket before Jayasuriya removed hard-hitting Rutherford for 43 in 35 deliveries.
One drop batsman, George Worker led the chase with an aggressive unbeaten 83 from 86 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Michael Pollard and Worker combined to post 117 for the second wicket as the Sri Lankan bowlers were unable to exert pressure for the first time during their six-match, Christchurch-based tour.
Last week, Sri Lanka A comprehensively won their two warm-up games against New Zealand Winter Training Squad.
The teams play the second match of their four-game series at the same venue on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka A – 214 all out in 45.3 overs: Kithuruwan Vithanage 58, Dhanushka Gunathilake 57; Shehan Jayasuriya 25, Dhananjaya De Silva 29, Niroshan Dickwella 23, Neil Wagner 2/41, Mitchell Santner 4/38, Ish Sodhi 3/28.
New Zealand A – 216/2 in 39.3 overs: George Worker 83*, Michael Pollard 59, Hamish Rutherford 43, Shehan Jayasuriya 2/36.
