A composed innings from Will Young has backed up another dominant bowling performance as the Black Caps earned another comprehensive win over Sri Lanka.
Matt Henry, Henry Shipley and Daryl Mitchell each snared three scalps to set up a six-wicket victory at Seddon Park and seal a one-sided ODI series 2-0.
New Zealand dismissed the tourists for 157 in the 42nd over and, after stumbling to 21-3 in reply, Young (86no off 113) took command of the chase to see his side home with 17 overs to spare.
The 30-year-old has received greater opportunities in tests but, with as many as eight first-choice players through IPL commitments, seized a rare chance in white-ball cricket to ensure the bowlers’ efforts wouldn’t go to waste.
Having skittled Sri Lanka for 76 during a 198-run triumph in the opener — before the second game was washed out — the result completed a near-flawless week for the bowling group.
And given Henry is likely alone in expecting a significant workload at this year’s World Cup, the performance will encourage a team whose depth has been in question.
The hosts enjoyed some assistance from conditions to which reckless Sri Lankan batsmen couldn’t adapt. After the tourists raised eyebrows by choosing to bat, Henry and Shipley shone on a surface that delivered a desirable level of bounce.
Henry in particular was almost unplayable, finding two early outside edges to remove Nuwanidu Fernando and Kusal Mendis before finishing with 3-14 from 10 outstanding overs.
Shipley continued asking the questions that reaped a maiden five-wicket bag at Eden Park, dismissing Angelo Mathews for a duck as Sri Lanka crawled to 26-3 after 10 overs — the worst ODI powerplay period seen at Seddon Park.
Few improvements followed as Mitchell made a double-strike that owed more to mindless shots, with Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva sending up simple catches.
Only Pathum Nissanka appeared comfortable, reaching 50 from 58 balls, but calamity then struck. The opener knew there was no run when he prodded close to the pitch yet was unable to dissuade skipper Dasun Shanaka, offering Henry Nicholls a simple runout.
Staggering to 126-6 after 30 overs, Shanaka was unable to atone as he holed out from Shipley, before Hasaranga de Silva handed Mitchell a third. Henry and Shipley applied the finishing touches as Sri Lanka completed their innings with a highest partnership of 31.
Unlike in the bowling unit, the absence of Finn Allen was quickly felt, as Chad Bowes sent an early edge behind while driving Lahiru Kumara without the requisite width. Tom Blundell’s first ODI in three years wasn’t a happy return, feathering his third ball behind to give Kumara a second wicket in his first over.
Mitchell became the next to record a popular mode of dismissal, unable to account for the extra bounce while nicking out. And when skipper Tom Latham’s scratchy series continued, ending a short stay by chopping on a dire shot in the 15th over, the Black Caps were in trouble on 59-4.
The threat almost increased when Nicholls was given out lbw in the 19th over, which was wise to review as Shanaka’s delivery was swinging past leg stump. But Young remained steadfast at the other end and soon brought up a half-century, driving especially well through the onside.
Henry and Nicholls registered the first 50-run stand in the match as New Zealand pulled within 50 runs of their target. And with Sri Lanka failing to find a breakthrough, attention turned to whether Young could complete a third ODI ton.
But there wasn’t quite enough to chase as Nicholls (44no) began to bat with fluidity, progressing the pair’s stand to an unbeaten 100 before striking the winning runs.
